Two unidentified men were the latest victims of mob justice when they were killed in Barberton yesterday, August 25.

The local police received information about a mob justice incident in Barberton Ext 10, also known as Kopeni.

At around 11:45, police attended the scene and discovered the body of a man.

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“He had allegedly been assaulted before vehicle tyres were used to set him alight,” said Mpumalanga police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Jabu Ndubane.

While still attending to this scene, police were called to another one at the sports ground in Ext 13, where a second man was killed in the same way.

“It is alleged that community members suspected both deceased of being involved in a series of house robberies in the area,” said Ndubane.

Necklacing is the practice of placing a tyre filled with petrol around a person and setting it alight, a method sometimes used in townships as a form of vigilante punishment.

No arrests have been made. Acting provincial police commissioner, Major General Dr Zeph Mkhwanazi, has called for calm and warned residents not to take the law into their own hands.

Anyone with information that can assist in the investigation is asked to contact Detective Captain Vusi Maphanga at 082 303 9704, call Crime Stop on 08600 10111, or send information via the My SAPS app.