A gruesome discovery has shocked the community of Ilovu township, south of Durban, after the decomposing body of an elderly woman was found in her kitchen on Tuesday morning—two months after she was first reported missing.

Local police and forensic teams are currently at the scene, where tense neighbours have gathered outside the property.

The grim discovery was made after residents noticed a foul odour emanating from the house.

Realising they had not seen the elderly resident for months, they alerted the local Community Policing Forum (CPF).

Nokuphiwa Mkhize, Chairperson of the Ilovu CPF, described the disturbing scene confronting community members and patrollers when they breached the property.

According to Mkhize, the woman’s grandson was found inside the house, calmly eating a meal right next to the deceased.

“When we arrived at the yard of our neighbour, the grandson refused to open the door for us,” Mkhize said. “We insisted that we were going to break in if he did not cooperate. He eventually opened the door, and that is when the full smell came out of the house. We saw the body of the woman lying there by the kitchen.”

Upon confrontation, the grandson denied any involvement in her death.

“The grandson told us that he never killed anyone, but that he just found his grandmother lying on the floor dead,” Mkhize added.

“He claimed his grandmother told him that when she passes away, she did not want to be buried, but wanted to be cremated.”

CPF officials suspect that substance abuse may have played a role in the grandson’s compliance with the horrific living conditions, noting his erratic behaviour and the fact that he was eating next to the remains.

Adding to the community’s outrage are allegations of financial exploitation.

Mkhize revealed that despite the grandmother being deceased for weeks, the grandson allegedly collected her government pension allowance as recently as last week.

He failed to notify anyone, including the elderly woman’s sister, about her passing.

Local police have cordoned off the home and launched an immediate investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death, as well as why the expiration was kept a secret.

This is a developing story.

Visit MDNtv YouTube Channel for our video content