Acting KwaZulu-Natal premier Ravi Pillay has visited a 35-year-old woman from uMkhuze who lost her arm after she was brutally attacked, allegedly by her husband. She also has a cracked skull.
The gruesome incident occurred on Tuesday in full view of the victim's two-year-old child.
She was immediately airlifted to St Augustine's Hospital, where she is undergoing a number of surgical procedures, including one to reattach her arms.
A plastic and reconstructive surgeon described the severe nature of her injuries to media.
"What has happened to her is that she has lost the arm from the left, she has got multiple cuts on the arms and eight wounds on the hand ... her life will never be the same," said the surgeon.
He added that as a teacher, she "needs a hand and one of her hands has lost function, but we will try to restore function to that hand. It will take multiple surgeries."
The attack occurred during 16 days of activism as the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide continues to haunt women and children in South Africa.
Pillay visited the woman in hospital on Thursday and called the case "one of the most gruesome" to emerge in the province since the start of the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children Campaign.
"We are grateful that she is alive; she is in good hands and I want to thank the medical team for excellent work in saving the one hand.
"It does not take away the horror of the crime - another case of brutal violence against women we have to condemn unreservedly," Pillay said.
