Homes of men who allegedly cut off teen’s leg with panga in Mpumalanga burnt by residents

Residents of Anthol Trust, near Hazyview in Mpumalanga, set alight two huts belonging to two men who are suspected of having allegedly severed a thirteen-year-old boy’s leg with a panga on October 31, reports Letaba Herald reports.

According to Brigadier Leonard Hlathi of the Mpumalanga SAPS, it is alleged that the police received information of a child whose leg had been severed by two men.

They immediately rushed to the scene and found the boy’s severed leg.

Residents then proceeded to the place where the alleged suspects resided and set alight two huts belonging to them, and then loot a tented camp near the Manyeleti Game Reserve.

Residents told the media that they felt that burning of parts of the camp was politically motivated.

When the police arrived at the scene, residents had disappeared.

A case of arson as well as an attempted murder was opened.

Moreover, five suspects were arrested afterwards and they have since appeared before the Mhala Magistrate’s Court on Monday, facing charges of attempted murder and kidnapping.

They were remanded in custody pending further police investigations.

The five suspects were identified as Tshepo Khoza, 30; Anania Mhimbiri, 25; Sunny Nkuna, 32; Prince Mdluli, 21; and Bornwise Malamule, 23.

The case was postponed to Thursday for a formal bail application.

The police also confirmed that the leg was found on Monday.

The provincial commissioner of the South African Police Service in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma, warned residents not to take law into their own hands.