Dan Mdluli
LIMPOPO – Thabiso Mmakola from Vaalbank in Mpumalanga was beaten to death allegedly by residents after he was accused of being part of a gang of six armed men who earlier robbed a local businessman.
The police found his bloody body tied to a tree near a local soccer field in Legolaneng village, Monsterlus in Sekhukhune last Wednesday evening.
According to WO Aviva Magolego, Hlogotlou police spokesperson, the police found the body after they responded to a house robbery at a local businessman’s house. “A local businessman and his wife were accosted around 19:00 by six men inside their house. Three of the gang were armed with firearms. They tied up the couple and assaulted them during the robbery. The robbers fled with R5 000 in cash, their cell phones and jewellery. The police opened a case of house robbery. No arrests were made and police investigations continue,” Magolego added. Idah Dikotope (43), the businessman’s neighbour who first responded to the screams, said one of the armed men hit her on the head with the back of a firearm when the door opened when she arrived to investigate.
“While we lay on the ground with my neighbours’ hands and legs tied up, the thugs told us they were going to burn us with boiling water. We were very scared. One of the criminal’s cell phones rang. It seemed like someone was tipping them off about the community mobilising outside. They fled after receiving the call,” Dikotope said.
Eyewitnesses said five of the robbers managed to flee but one of them was captured. He was assaulted with an assortment of weapons while tied up to a tree. The police found an assortment of weapons, including rocks, covered in blood.
WO Magolego confirmed that a case of murder was opened. No arrests have been made as yet and police investigations into the murder continue.
Police appealed to members of the community to refrain from taking the law into their own hands.
