A group of angry Polokwane residents yesterday created a trap to catch men who faked working for trusted e-hailing services and exploited and robbed their commuters – mostly tertiary students.

The decision to set up the trap – at the gang’s usual spot on the corner of Landdros Maré and Rissik streets – was made after reports to local taxi associations.

The plan entailed students carrying laptops and walking past the spot.

“The kgama boys [a notorious gang] attempted to take their laptops and that is how we managed to catch them. They are the ones who took us to their associates, the e-hailing men. When we got there, the victims identified them [the alleged drivers],” a source close to the scene told the Polokwane Review.

The six men – two kgama gang members and four supposed e-hailing drivers – were then stripped naked and beaten by the group after positive identification.

A video circulating on social media shows four of the men walking naked in the CBD, wounded, while mob voices and sjambok wielding men follow them.

“The kgamas group commit crime in the CBD and target college and university students. These e-hailing men make commuters pay double the amount in the evenings and when you refuse, they take your belongings. They also work together as the e-hailing men transport members of the gang to commit these acts. That is why the community reacted to it,” the source says.

Meanwhile, the Limpopo E-hailing Unity has since released a statement distancing itself from the supposed drivers and confirmed the men operated using stolen profiles.

“The men were acting contrary to the rules and regulations provided by any of the e-hailing companies operating in Polokwane (Bolt, T-Drive and Uber) and are criminals that should be left to the law enforcement agencies to deal with,” their statement reads.

The police are yet to confirm the incident, while another source close to the incident says one of the four men seen in the circulating video, succumbed to his injuries in hospital.