Update: KZN Police confirm severed human hands found on roadside are fake

KwaZulu-Natal police said that a pair of severed human hands found on the roadside outside a primary school in Trenance Park, Verulam, on Wednesday are fake.

"After preliminary investigations were conducted, it has been discovered that the hands which were found today, 13 August 2025 in Trenance Park in Verulam, are in actual fact fake," said KZN police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Paul Magwaza.

The alarm was raised after Prem Balram, head of Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa), said the unit responded to a call from a paper delivery worker who reported seeing animal or human limbs wrapped in a bloody white cloth.

In another incident last month, a 60-year-old woman was found with a slit throat while her 80-year-old mother died from a brutal attack at their home in Phoenix, KZN.

According Rusa, the crime scene was discovered after a man arrived at his home and found the door locked.

"He attempted attracting the attention of his wife and elderly mother-in-law without success. He thereafter gained forced entry into the house and located both females in pools of blood in the passage," said Rusa

Rusa added that it received multiple calls for medical assistance from neighbours after they heard a man calling out for help and rushed to the scene.

"The pensioner was pronounced deceased upon examination. She sustained multiple stab wounds to her face and body. Her daughter’s throat was slit, and she sustained large stab wounds to both her cheeks, neck and hands. She bled extensively from her injuries. Paramedics stabilised her on scene before rapidly transporting her to hospital by ambulance," said Rusa.

On the scene, officers said they found large blood-stained butcher knife and smaller knife, which bent in the attack was also recovered.

"The critically injured woman’s son could not be located. It could not be confirmed if he was responsible for the attack. A case of murder and attempted murder is being investigated," said Rusa

sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za

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