Three unknown men, suspected to be thieves, were allegedly attacked and beaten to death by members of the community of Mandala and Tshivhidulu village on Tuesday after they had reportedly robbed a shop owner of cash and airtime vouchers.
An eyewitness said that the suspects went to a shop at Mandala and robbed the shop owner. The report states that he had screamed for help and members of the community had chased the suspects, who ran into the direction of Tshivhidulu.
One of the suspects was allegedly in possession of two firearms. The eyewitness then stated that the alleged robbers were eight in number, four men and four women. The four women and a man then fled in a vehicle, while the residents apprehended the other three men.
The mob then allegedly beat them to death with an assortment of weapons and set their bodies alight.
The chairperson of Tshivhidulu Civic, Mr Meshack Sathuma, said that residents were angry because several cases in which they had been robbed of their belongings had occurred and they then "decided to teach the criminals a hard lesson". He said that the thugs were targeting shops owned by foreigners such as Somalians and Ethiopians.
"We are happy that they were killed; this is one fewer problem for us. We have been under siege by criminals in the area, with many houses broken into and items stolen. If criminals are killed this way, it will send a message to others that it does not pay and perhaps they will refrain from doing crime," said a community member.
He said the community had taken the law into their own hands because they felt 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.''
Brig Motlafela Mojapelo of the Limpopo Police was very critical of the action taken by the livid residents who had participated in the mob-justice incident. "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 confirmed that murder cases had been opened after the incident. No arrests have been made yet, but the police said a task team was being set up to investigate the case and identify those who were involved. The police appealed to the community to come forward to identify the bodies of the three murdered men.