Three “mob justice” killers have this week been sentenced to eight years each in the Pretoria Regional Court.
Cassius Eric Lelagane (28) Sylvia Matabane (34) and Bongani Betheuel Mkhonza (25) were among a group of residents that stoned pensioner Linda Jacob (64) to death in 2014 in a vigilante attack.
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Jacob had been accused of the rape of an 11-year-old year girl in Mamelodi Section D2 but the investigating officer Detective Sergeant Lesiba Mamabolo, would later tell the trial court the child had not been raped as alleged.
“The competency of Mamabolo ended up with a good conviction,” said police spokesperson Captain Johannes Maheso.
Maheso condemned mob justice “because often innocent people would be killed such as in the case in question”.
Maheso warned no one was above the law or had the right to beat or kill anyone else for allegedly committed a crime.
“Taking the law into your hands is against the law,” he said.
“The police would come and arrest a suspect and if he or she is found guilty, then he or she will be punished for the crime.”
Maheso hoped the community would learn from the case.
In another mob justice incident last year, a man suspected in the rape of a little girl, was brutally beaten by angry residents of Ward 76 in Mamelodi West Section B3.
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They alleged he had dragged the girl into the Mamelodi West Cemetery to rape her.
Maheso asked residents to call the local police on 08600-10111 after apprehending someone suspect of committing a crime.
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