Three people were killed during an alleged mob justice attack, and a further three men were found dead in separate incidents in the KaBokweni and Clau-Clau area of Mpumalanga on Friday.

Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala says the first incident occurred in Sifunindlela in KaBokweni in the early hours of Friday.

He says the KaBokweni police received reports of three people who had been assaulted. When the SAPS arrived, Mohlala says they found a house had also been burnt down during the incident.

He explains that two men were declared dead on the scene, while a third was in a critical condition and later died as a result of his injuries.

Mohlala says while the police were at this scene, they received a call that the bodies of two men, aged 21 and 40, had been discovered in Khumbula near KaBokweni.

He adds that the men were found with multiple injuries.

“Two hours later, the police received another report of a sixth body found in the bushes at Clau-Clau,” says Mohlala.

He states that unconfirmed reports have linked the first three victims as suspects of an armed robbery that recently took place at a liquor outlet in Emvangati. It was during that robbery that the victims were allegedly identified by community members.

He says the police cannot link the other three victims to this robbery, and they hope further investigations will reveal the cause of their deaths.

Mohlala adds that only two victims have been identified so far, and the other four remain unknown.

The provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Manamela, issued a strong warning to community members to refrain from taking the law into their own hands and allow justice to take its course.

“Other people might be victimised for hidden agendas by their accusers and end up losing their lives for crimes they never committed,” she says.