THE bleeding and broken bodies of two men were left in the street in Mashishimale in the Ba-Phalaborwa municipality after they were stoned to death by residents on Sunday.
According to residents who wished to remain anonymous, the two men were responsible for a spate of robberies in the area. One resident said the men would dress up like women so that they could approach their victims, usually at night, without their victims becoming suspicious.
He said a resident who was robbed on Saturday evening recognised the men and alerted the rest of the community.
The residents went in search of the two men and found them, still in possession of their latest victim’s cellphone and wallet. The suspects were tied up and beaten after which some residents searched their homes and allegedly found cellphones, laptops and other items that had also been stolen.
“In anger, the community returned to the men with more people, some of whom were victims of robberies. The crowd beat the men up and stoned them to death. There were several police vans at the scene, and the police officials just stood and watched,” an eye-witness who wished to remain anonymous, described.
Provincial police spokesperson, Col Ronél Otto confirmed the incident. She said the two men were Lerato Malesa (28) and Tumi Monyela (29).
She said the police were summoned to the scene. “On their arrival, the crowd turned on the police stoning and damaging two police vans,” she said.
“No arrests have been made yet but investigations are underway. Members of the public order policing unit have been deployed in the area for patrol and prevention of further incidents,” she said.
She further said it was suspected that the two men were also responsible for the death of SP Mathebula (57), whose body was found along the road in the area on July 7. “The cause of his death is not yet known as we are awaiting the post mortem results,” she said.
In a separate incident, 10 people were arrested during special investigations and operations in and around the area on Tuesday. The suspects are expected to appear before court today (Wednesday).
Otto warned that people taking the law into their own hands could be arrested and should they be found guilty, they could face a jail sentence.
