Seven attacked during mob justice in Lydenburg, Mjejane, Komatipoort and Busbuckridge
Police warns public against mob justice.
An attack on a man at Shoprite on October 25 in Lydenburg at approximately 10:00, allegedly by community members, has been condemned by police.
The man was allegedly involved in card cloning, and he allegedly stole several thousand rand from a Shoprite client when they withdrew money from the automatic teller machine. The man died of his injuries later the same day.
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A total of seven people have been attacked by mobs in separate cases in the Mjejane community near Komatipoort, Marite in Bushbuckridge, and Lydenburg last week.
“The police attended the scene and found that the alleged victim was powerless. No one came forward to give the information as to why he was beaten. An ambulance was summoned to assist the alleged beaten victim and the victim was taken to Lydenburg Hospital for medical treatment. Later the police find that the victim was assaulted because he was scamming clients at a Standard Bank ATM at Shoprite. He was assaulted by community members. Then they took him to the taxi rank where the assault and beating continued,” said Sergeant Cave Dilebo, spokesperson of the Lydenburg police.
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“We appreciate the effort of communities in assisting the police to fight and prevent crime. However, communities must report crime and also act as informants because they are not trained to apprehend crime suspects. Taking the law into their own hands is a criminal offence, and those who engage in mob justice are liable for prosecution,” said Vusi Shongwe, MEC for the Mpumalanga Department of Safety, Security and Liaison.
Shongwe urged communities to continue working with the police by providing information that may lead to the arrest of crime suspects.
“We have community policing forum (CPF) structures. Therefore, people must work with the police through these structures in order to prevent crime. All forums that participate in crime prevention must do so within the ambit of the law,” the MEC emphasised.
