Mob justice victim dies of his injuries

A young man who was allegedly caught stealing at a church in Shayandima outside Thohoyandou, died a cruel death when he suffered instant justice at the hands of an angry mob. They attacked him with an assortment of weapons before pouring boiling water mixed with fish oil over his body.

According to witnesses, the incident happened at around 03:00 on Sunday morning and the man was left writhing in pain on the road at the gate of the church, with no one helping, even though the clinic is only a two-minute walk from the scene.

By around 07:00, a large crowd had gathered, some laughing and saying he deserved it, even though his crime was not clearly defined. The young man has been identified as Moses Mulaudzi (21) of Tshalovha in Dzindi.

Many such incidents, where houses and cars belonging to suspects were torched at different villages around the province, have taken place and this has been widely condemned by Limpopo police commissioner Lt-Gen Nneke Ledwaba.

A man who works near the church said he heard noises and rushed to the scene to find the man being attacked. "I could not recognize him as it was still dark. I only came to know him in the morning when many people had gathered there. He was still alive but writhing in pain. His relatives arrived later and took him to the clinic on the back of a bakkie. It was, however, too late as he died of his injuries," he said.

Those who know the young man say the assailants might have attacked the wrong person. The man is said to be mentally retarded and harmless. "We know this boy very well and he is not capable of doing what he is alleged to have done. They killed the wrong person for nothing. We are also left with many unanswered questions," a family member said.

Mr Michael Mulaudzi, the young man's father, is devastated. "We are not even sure what happened. We have so many questions that need answers, but we have put everything in the hands of God," he said.

Limpopo police spokesperson Lt-Col Moatshe Ngoepe confirmed the incident and said the police had rushed to the scene after receiving a report. He said the man had been accused of stealing from a vehicle but that the case was never reported. “The man was found lying in the street with deep assault and burn wounds all over his body”. He added that their preliminary investigations had led the police to arrest a 41-year-old man and that he would appear in court soon.

Shortly before our going to press, this paper learnt that the Nigerian pastor who had been arrested in connection with the case was later released.

Date:10 March 2018

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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