Polokwane - An elderly woman from Mokopane is in a critical condition after being bitten by a black mamba she was trying to chase off with a can of insecticide and a broomstick, according to a report on Friday.
Sarie Senekal, 76, was airlifted to the Polokwane Provincial Hospital in a critical condition on Wednesday afternoon,
Beeld reported.
According to her daughter, Frieda, the snake bit her mother in a neighbour's flat after she tried to evict it with a can of fly spray and a broom handle.
"She apparently tried to beat the snake to death with the broom before it bit her twice on the leg. She called me and said: 'My child, a snake bit me'."
She was on a ventilator in the high-care unit in the hospital.
Cobra bite
In a separate incident, an elderly woman from Polokwane is in a serious but stable condition after she was bitten by an Egyptian cobra that had crawled into her daughter's car, reported The Citizen newspaper.
Sannie Roos, 74, was in the intensive care unit in Medi-Clinic Limpopo.
She was picked up by her daughter after a shopping trip, and after they drove off she felt a sharp pain in her foot.
She was taken to hospital and the snake was later found hiding in the car's air vent.