The daughter of an elderly British couple who were allegedly murdered and dismembered in a suspected South African black magic ritual says she fears her parents' killers will strike again.
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killers → murder → ritual
Pensioners Anthony 'Tony' Dinnis, 73, and Gillian Dinnis, 78, were attacked by a gang of three men armed with guns at their remote farm in Middlerus in KwaZulu-Natal's Mooi River area, before disappearing without a trace three years ago.
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Pensioners → attack → trace
Later, in an alleged confession to police by one of the suspects, it emerged that the couple were killed in a Muti killing - where their body parts are butchered for black magic, claiming they give people special powers.
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they → emerge → powers
Their devastated family believe their fingers and ears were chopped off for 50,000 Rand (£2,170) for a witch doctor known as a Sangoma, while they were still alive, before being murdered and their bodies dumped.
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bodies → believe → Sangoma
Now, their daughter has spoken out about her parents' case and has warned tourists visiting South Africa about black magic gangs.
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daughter → speak → gangs
Kate Anderson, 55, spoke to The Times three years after her parents disappeared and a year after British tourist Lorna McSorley vanished in the same area.
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McSorley → speak → area
Speaking from her home in Cape Town, she suggested that because South Africans are afraid of black magic, authorities would rather turn a blind eye to it.
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authorities → speak → it
'But as these cases show, they are not so rare and something has to be done, or more and more people - including tourists - will be targeted,' she said.
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she → show → tourists
An elderly British couple, Anthony and Gillian Dinnis, were allegedly kidnapped and killed in South Africa in 2023
Their daughter, Kate Anderson (pictured) has warned that her parents' killers could strike again
According to Kate, the diary her father kept stopped on Sunday, August 27, 2023, and the couple were reported missing the following day.
There was no sign of a struggle, but her mother's walking stick had been left behind, leaving her to believe Gillian had been carried out.
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Gillian → kidnap → her
After a week of searches around the farm, Kate says her family received a ransom demand from Gillian's phone for 2 million rand (£91,000) for the couple's return.
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family → say → return
The ransom was then dropped to 50,000 rand (£2,300), but when Kate demanded a picture of her parents as proof of life, there was no response.
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Kate → drop → life
According to her father's diary, the gardener was the last person to see the couple.
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gardener → accord → couple
Kate said that there was no mobile signal in the valley where her parents lived, and she knew the only free wifi nearby was at a church.
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wifi → say → church
On September 16, police found the gardener at the church with Gillian's Suim card in his phone and arrested him alongside another suspect.
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police → find → suspect
Kate claims she saw the gardener's confession, in which it described how three men abducted the couple, killed them and cut off their ears and fingers to be sold as muti in Johannesburg.
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men → claim → Johannesburg
Gang members allegedly cut off Gillian and Anthony's (pictured) body parts and travelled five hours to Johannesburg to find a witch doctor to sell the bloodied parts for cash
Pictured: The couple's home in South Africa, where they are believed to have been kidnapped from
A detective's affidavit at a March 2024 bail hearing said the gardener had admitted being one of three men involved in the kidnapping.
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gardener → cut → kidnapping
But the suspect later claimed that cops had beaten him into confessing, and a magistrate ruled the confession could not stand.
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confession → claim → him
In June 2024, charges against the two men were withdrawn, with police citing insufficient evidence, allowing them to walk free, while the third suspect was never traced.
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suspect → withdraw → evidence
'They've got away with it,' Kate said.
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Kate → get → it
'If they're short of money, they're going to do it again.'
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they → go → it
Her warning comes after the family of Ms McSorley, who vanished while hiking in South Africa last year, said her death must be investigated as murder.
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death → come → murder
The 71-year-old from Teignmouth, Devon, disappeared in September 2025 after she went on a walk with her partner of 30 years, 82-year-old Leon Probert.
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she → disappear → years
The couple left their hotel to go for a short walk from the Ghost Mountain Inn in the KwaZulu-Natal province to search for local wildlife.
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couple → leave → wildlife
But on the walk, Leon found the heat and distance too stifling, returning to get his hat and leaving Lorna to continue on her own.
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heat → find → own
It would be the last time he would see her.
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he → see → her
To this day, Leon's partner has not been heard from despite an extensive search operation of the surrounding area after she failed to return three hours later.
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she → hear → area
Locals in the South African region believe she may have been kidnapped and killed for her body parts used in 'muti' rituals.
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she → believe → rituals
Last week, Ms McSorley's brother, Geoff Sheward, wants her case to be treated as a murder investigation and not a missing persons inquiry.
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case → want → investigation
A year on from her disappearance, the 73-year-old said the family can't yet grieve her death.
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family → say → death
'As bad as it would be to hear any horrible details, knowing nothing is definitely worse,' he told The Times.
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he → hear → Times
'We are just in limbo, unable to settle her affairs or know how to grieve.'
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We → settle → affairs
The KwaZulu-Natal region's northern area, where Lorna went missing, is known for being a hotspot for strong 'muti' beliefs, which is a type of traditional medicine or magic.
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which → go → medicine
Though most 'muti' rituals require parts from plants or animals, there are those who believe the most powerful charms and medicines require human body parts.
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charms → require → parts
These spells are often used by those with the wealth and contacts to procure human body parts, be they business leaders closing a deal, a gangster wishing to protect themselves or a politician seeking high office.
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they → use → office
Several locals said that a 'muti' killing was the likely cause of Lorna's death, The Times previously reported.
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Times → say → death
The Aporia
