[bloodrayne]

Woman Was Beheaded For Pension Money

The relatives of a woman allegedly hacked to death by her son after she refused to give him her pension money are still trying to come to terms with her death.

The 24-year-old son allegedly demanded money from his 48-year-old mother and a quarrel ensued when she refused.

He then stabbed her with a knife before chopping off her head, loading her onto a wheelbarrow and dumping her body into the Rietspruit River at Nanescol, on the outskirts of Vanderbijlpark.

Trying hard to stay calm, the suspect's brother battled to explain what had happened.

"When I left home on Friday night my brother was quarrelling with my mother, but I never thought he was going to kill her," he said, struggling to hold back tears.

"I am shocked but not surprised because my brother is a short-tempered and violent person."

He said his brother was in the habit of demanding his mother's disability money on pension day.

Superintendent Nthabiseng Mazibuko, Vaal Rand media liaison officer, said the mother's body was found floating in the Rietspruit river by an off-duty policeman on Saturday.

Residents led police to a small, dilapidated farmhouse where the woman had lived with her two sons.

Police found the suspect's blood-soaked trousers there and, accompanied by his girlfriend, went looking for him. They found him walking to a tavern.

"The police apprehended the suspect and he was arrested after confessing to the murder on Sunday," said Superintendent Mazibuko.

The suspect was expected to appear in court on Wednesday.