He won't do that again! Pastor who caught man stealing from his church chops off both his hands with a machete

A holy pastor turned vigilante who allegedly caught a thief stealing from his church took matters into his own hands by kidnapping the crook and mutilating him with a machete, a South African court heard.

Christian Solomon Mhalanga, 58, was enraged when his son Enoch, 20, caught self-confessed criminal Dumisani Mahalngu, 29, on the church grounds in Vosman at dawn.

He called his father, Apostle Solomon, who arrived in his van and tied up Mahalngu's arms and legs before driving him into the remote bush outside the South African town.

The vigilante pastor, along with his son and four of his faithful flock, then allegedly held him down and placed his hands over a tree branch, where the crook was told he would be taught not to steal again.

Terrified Mahlangu told police in Emalahleni, Mpumulanga Province, that the machete swung down twice, severing both his hands and leaving him bleeding profusely as they fled the scene.

Following an intensive investigation by police, the alleged attackers were arrested on March 27, appearing in court on Thursday charged with attempted murder and kidnapping.

Mutilated Mahlangu had both of his hands cut off by a pastor after allegedly stealing from him

He pleaded with the pastor to let him keep a hand - but the vigilante claims he said he wanted to send a message

Mahlangu recounted how had he begged the pastor not to cut off both his hands - denying the charges against him - but the enraged father claimed he told him his friends 'needed to see' what happened to thieves. 

Mahlangu later told cops that the pastor and his five helpers left him to bleed out in the bush as they fled the scene in the van.

As the victim staggered out of the woods, local workers screamed seeing the blood soaked man with no hands.

They allegedly refused to help but called security guards who rushed him to a local clinic.

'I walked to the main road and as they were driving out of the woods,' he recalled. 

'I asked them to call an ambulance for me but one of them said no. I got help from people who were cutting wood not far away, but they were also scared to come close to me because they could see I don't have hands. 

'They phoned security officers from a nearby mine. The security drove me to a clinic in Kwa-Guqa.'

The victim was unable to tell police where his hands had been chopped off on March 20.

It would be another two weeks before he was released and able to retrace his steps to the spot.

Officers found the decomposing hands, bagging them up as evidence, and recovered a machete nearby which they believe may be the weapon used to mutilate the man.

On Thursday, churchman Apostle Solomon and his son Enoch appeared at the Emalahleni Magistrates Court charged with attempted murder and kidnapping but the case was postponed.

Mahlangu told the Sowetan who interviewed him after he was released from hospital that he admitted he was a thief and a drug user but that he had not robbed the local church.

The victim said he had been taking a short cut through the churchyard at 7am in the Kwa-Guqa area when he was cornered by armed men who had accused him of stealing.

Mahlangu said: 'As I tried to run away I heard several gun shots so I stopped so they did not shoot me then they assaulted me with sticks and fists and the pastor's son called his dad.

'The pastor turned up in his van and was armed with a panga [blade] and tied me up and put me in the van and they all got in and drove me to a secluded area' he told the Sowetan.

He added: 'They put my hands of a tree branch and I begged him not to kill me and said I had not stolen anything. The men held me down and the pastor chopped off my hands'.

'Yes, I admit that I've stolen before to buy drugs but I have never stolen from the church. They didn't find me with anything,' he said.

Both the pastor and his son have been charged with attempted murder and kidnap and were remanded in custody until April 9 when they will reappear for a bail hearing.

Officers found the decomposing hands, bagging them up as evidence, and a machete nearby

Mahlangu said though he is known in the community as a thief and drug user he has never stolen from the church

Apostle Solomon is well known as devout churchman taking several local ministries.

The victim's father Johannes, 66, admitted his son was a thief but did not deserve what happened to him saying: 'How can a pastor preach peace and then do this to my child?

'Now I have to brush his teeth, feed him, wash him, take him to the toilet. I was hoping when I die, he is the one who is going to carry my coffin out of this house,' he said.

In South Africa a total of 2,124 people were killed in the last year in mob justice attacks.

The case was adjourned until April 9.