The life of an alleged criminal came to a gruesome end when an angry mob at Tshikuwi caught and severely assaulted him before setting him alight on Sunday, 2 October.
The man, identified as Ntangi Nembidzani (26), was still out on bail on a charge of murder when this incident occurred. The community alleged that he had robbed a lady of R2 000 at knifepoint on 30 September. The robbery was allegedly reported to the community, who immediately set out to hunt him down and found him on Sunday afternoon.
Fearing the worst, Nembidzani attempted to run away, but the mob was not going to let him get away with his alleged crimes and soon caught up with him. They instantly meted out jungle justice and beat him with stones before dousing him with petrol and setting him on fire. He died at the scene before the police arrived.
The residents of Tshikuwi seem to have lost every shred of tolerance and mercy for criminals. But they are not alone in their frustration. As the crime rate in the Vhembe region keeps ascending, many other communities like them have started to "make an example" of alleged criminals, whom they say are making life hard for them. About two months ago, four alleged child kidnappers were killed in the Nzhelele area.
Except for robbing the lady of her cash, Nembidzani was believed to have been behind the spate of crime in the area over the past months, terrorising the community of Tshikuwi and surrounding areas before community members decided to deal with him for good.
One of the community members, who wants to remain anonymous, said crime had become a worrying and burning issue in the village. "People are tired of crime in this area. Since the beginning of this year, there have been many other crime-related incidents here. As a community, we are trying our best to beat this scourge." He said that the community had come to this decision because they had lost faith in the police officers who investigated cases, who seemed to be dragging their feet in arresting suspects.
The police spokesperson, Brig Motlafela Mojapelo, confirmed the incident and warned communities not to take the law into their own hands but to hand criminals over to the police, so that they can be tried in a court of law. "We have opened a murder case, but no one was arrested. We are appealing to community members who might have information that can assist us to arrest the culprits to come forward, or to call 08600 10111," said Mojapelo.