Independent Newspapers
.
Durban – An elderly South Coast woman is fighting for her life in Margate Hospital after she was attacked by a gang that ransacked her house and left her for dead on Wednesday morning.
Martha Lotter, 89, was discovered by her daughter Pam Botha, 69, at her Oslo Beach home, south of Port Shepstone. She was on the floor next to her bed, and struggling to breathe.
Botha said she had gone to her mother’s house at 7am to drop off milk and make her breakfast.
Botha said she knew something was wrong when she saw the front door was open and papers were strewn across the living room.
“I got inside and the place was completely ransacked. I was so worried. I immediately started crying out for her. I looked everywhere and found her struggling to even move,” she said.
“I went towards her and held her in my arms. I was so shocked at the brutality.”
Botha explained that her mother had been struck on the back of her head with an object while she was in the living room. She was then dragged to her bedroom where she was assaulted. Botha called the police and paramedics.
Netcare 911 spokesman Chris Botha said Lotter was “unresponsive and had life-threatening injuries”.
Botha said she had made plans to take her mother shopping, but they were cancelled when Lotter complained about the weather.
Botha said this was not the first attack on her mother, who was an easy target because she lived alone.
“She wants to be independent and always declined to move out. She has a dog but it didn’t help her,” Botha said.
Last year, she said, her mother was beaten up by a gang that robbed her.
“I always have to phone her at night and remind her to lock the door because she gets forgetful. I don’t understand why they had to beat her. How can people be so cruel?” she said.
Margate Hospital manager Rob Ferreira said doctors were doing everything they could.
“She is expected to have a long hospital stay.
“No surgery has been scheduled as yet but that may change,” Ferreira said.
Police spokesman Thulani Zwane said detectives were waiting for Lotter to recover and give them a statement.
The Mercury
