The people of Vhembe have not yet recovered from the shock of a ruthless mob-justice incident that occurred about a fortnight ago in the Louis Trichardt area, when another such incident took place in the Thohoyandou CBD.
In Madombidzha near Louis Trichardt, a man believed to be part of a criminal gang was burnt to death two weeks ago, and over the weekend, a man believed to be a member of a criminal gang that has been terrorising residents in the area was stoned and an attempt was made to set his body alight.
This man, an alledged notorious thug who instilled fear wherever he went in Thohoyandou and surrounding villages, pulled his last robbery on Saturday night when he was caught in the act and stoned. The man, aged 22, is from Mapate village outside Thohoyandou. His would-be executioners were disturbed by the timely arrival of the police. They fled the scene, leaving the badly injured man to bleed to death.
A pile of bricks and materials meant for use to burn him were left at the scene when the attackers fled. A box containing tiles that the dead man was seen trying to sell at the nearby garage some minutes before he was killed was also lying next to his body.
Thohoyandou police spokesperson Const Avhafarei Tshiovhe confirmed the incident. "We received a report about the incident and our members rushed to the scene, where a man lay dead after being killed by a mob. Apparently the man, part of an eight-men gang, robbed a resident in the CBD and members of the community gave chase and the man was caught and beaten to death. Information at our disposal is that a victim from Thohoyandou Unit C was robbed of his phone, cash, expensive shoes and bank cards by the robbers. They also stabbed the victim in the forehead, using pangas, before they fled the scene."
She said they had opened a murder case in respect of the alleged criminal and a robbery charge was laid by the victim. "We are making an appeal to members of our community not to take the law into their own hands, but to hand over suspects to us. It is quite disturbing that cases of this nature are on the increase in this area."