South African Pastor Amputates Thief's Hands In What Is Deemed 'Thou Shalt Not Steal' Taken Literally

In a chilling act of church vigilantism, South African pastor Apostle Solomon Mhlanga unleashed machete fury on suspected thief Dumisani Mahlangu, severing both hands in a twisted biblical punishment that has ignited debates on mob justice horrors.

The gruesome amputation, rooted in cries of 'thou shalt not steal', unfolded in Vosman village, exposing the dark underbelly of religious extremism clashing with South Africa's rampant theft crisis.

As life sentences descend on the pastor and his son, this machete attack underscores escalating community retribution, where over 2,500 mob justice killings plague the nation annually, fuelling calls for police reform amid thief amputation outrage.

The Brutal Machete Assault in Vosman Village

On 20 March 2024, in the quiet village of Vosman near Malahleni, Enock Mhlanga, son of Apostle Solomon Mhlanga, spotted known thief Dumisani Mahlangu crossing church grounds at Soteria Ministries. Enraged, the 21-year-old alerted his father, who arrived swiftly in a van, joined by wife Poppy and four congregants.

They dragged the 29-year-old Mahlangu into the church, beating him near the altar despite his pleas of innocence—he claimed merely shortcutting through the graveyard. Rope-bound and shoved into a station wagon, Mahlangu endured a terrifying drive to nearby woodland. There, under a branch, his hands were pinned as the pastor brandished a machete, declaring he would teach the 'sinner' to 'never steal again'.

With one savage swing, the blade sliced through his left wrist; as blood spurted, Mahlangu begged, 'please leave me one hand'. Unmoved, Mhlanga retorted, 'Soldiers die in war!', before hacking off the right in cold blood. Left bleeding in the bush, the victim was discovered hours later by woodcutters, who rushed him to hospital.

This machete attack, born of theft paranoia, shattered lives in an instant, highlighting how church vigilantism spirals into thief amputation nightmares. Independent reports confirm Mahlangu's prior petty crimes but stress no church theft occurred that day, amplifying the injustice.

Courtroom Reckoning and Victim's Heart-Wrenching Testimony

The eMalahleni Regional Court convened in November 2025 to confront this mob justice atrocity, where Magistrate JJ Combrink condemned the family's brutality without mercy. Apostle Mhlanga, 66, and son Enock faced charges of kidnapping and attempted murder, pleading not guilty alongside Poppy for her role in the abduction.

Mahlangu, now permanently disabled, lifted his bandaged stumps in court, recounting the horror: 'My hands were on the ground flip-flopping as I realised that where my hands were I now had two bloody stumps'. He detailed the post-attack humiliation, ordered off the bloodied vehicle and abandoned in agony.

Combrink thundered, 'No mercy was shown and when Mahlangu tried to get onto the station wagon he was told to get off as he was bleeding on it', questioning daily survival without hands: 'How do you eat? How do you dress or close your buttons? How do you go to the bathroom without hands?'

Ripples of Mob Justice and Calls for Reform

South Africa's mob justice epidemic, claiming over 2,124 lives yearly, finds a grotesque emblem in the Mhlanga machete attack, where biblical zeal morphed into thief amputation savagery.

Vigilantism surges as public faith in the South African Police Service plummets to one in five, per 2025 surveys, prompting communities to enact brutal 'justice' amid rampant crime.

The Vosman incident, amplified on X, sparked global outrage, with users labelling it a ''thou shalt not steal'' and demanding accountability from religious leaders—who largely condemned the act as antithetical to compassion.

Broader data reveals 6,056 extortion cases from 2019-2024 with scant convictions, fuelling frustration that erupts in lynchings and amputations.