Another gruesome mob justice incident- Man set alight

An alleged thief was stoned to death and set alight after a manhunt by residents of Madombidzha on Monday. The deceased was said to be part of a group of criminals called Ma-Dickies.

According to residents, the Ma-Dickies group is responsible for crimes such as housebreakings, rape and robberies and shebeen attacks.

A road in the residential area was blocked on Sunday night, after a community meeting at the royal kraal to discuss the high crime rate. It was apparently decided during the meeting that members of the community would take the law into their own hands in an effort to curb the spiralling crime in the area.

On Monday morning, residents saw one of the suspects and chased after him. They apprehended the man, estimated to be around 26 years old. The mob then beat him to death with sticks and stones before setting him alight.

Members of the community were then looking for alleged suspects around the villages. On Tuesday, they set alight an RDP house of a suspect at Gogobole.

This is the third incident in less than three months where mob justice prevailed and a suspect was beaten, stoned to death and set alight. The previous week, a resident of Shayandima, Thohoyandou and Gondeni la Ha-Mabilu was given the same medicine by the community as they thought he was behind incidents of robbery in the area.

The rule of law seems to have lost momentum as communities feel betrayed in that they hand over criminals to the police and then see them roaming the streets the following day. According to a community member, who did not want to have his name mentioned, the suspect was a member of Ma-Dickies.

“We are tired of the anarchy caused by the thugs. They have been terrorising us for a long time and each time they have committed crime, they simply return to the community,” he said.

"The angry community had just begun to set one of the criminals alight when the police arrived. Residents said that the community had taken the law into their own hands because they claimed the police were not doing their job. Our community is sick and tired of the police arresting criminals and then, within weeks, they are released,'' said a resident.

Thovhele Vho-Rudzani Sinthumule condemned the brutal killing of the man. He urged all to be united in the fight against crime. "All we want is a crime-free village where one can sleep outside with open gates, without fear of being attacked by thugs. We are now urging all residents to notify their neighbours if they are away from home."

The spokesperson for the SAPS in Limpopo, Lt Col Moatshe Ngoepe, said that he was concerned about the fact that the community had taken the law into their own hands. He said that the deceased had been beaten with different objects and had died on the scene. “We are always discouraging the community from taking the law into their own hands. If a crime is committed, the community should call the police and let the officers do their jobs. People should take into consideration that taking the law into their own hands is a downright criminal offence.''

He added that 19 people had been arrested for public violence. At the time of our going to press, they had still not appeared in court.

Date:27 June 2016

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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