Mob justice injures two suspected of murder in Delmas
The grandfather recognised the lifeless body lying facedown in the grass as that of his grandson.
After the murder of Sibongiseni Sithole (19) on June 11, an angry mob went on a revenge spree. Sithole’s grandfather was home that Sunday morning when a group came to his house.
They showed him pictures of a dead man lying face down in the grass in an alley in the Botleng RDP extension, Delmas.
The group then took the grandfather to the scene. The grandfather recognised the lifeless body as that of his grandson.
They called the Delmas SAPS and paramedics to the scene, and the victim was declared dead. According to the SAPS, Sithole suffered head injuries and stab wounds to his upper body.
A trustworthy source said the body was moved to this spot from a property using a wheelbarrow. Residents followed the 700m blood spatter trail, which led them to the property of one of the suspects.
This led to the police, hardly two hours after attending the murder scene, receiving another call to inform them about an angry mob assaulting two victims.
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The police had a hard time rescuing two men (25 and 28 years old) from the mob out for vengeance. Community members helped calm the angry group, and police whisked the men away.
An ambulance was called to the scene and took the suspects to Bernice Samuel Hospital.
The 25-year-old reportedly sustained minor injuries and was locked up and charged with the murder of Sithole.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the two men were suspects in the murder of Sithole.
However, this was not the end of a busy Sunday for the police. They received another call from the same premises where they found the duo.
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This time, the police found a small room, apparently used as a consulting room, up in flames. The house allegedly belonged to one of the murder suspects.
They found bloodstains on the door and windows and substances suspected to be traditional medicines.
The two suspects walked free on Monday because there was not enough evidence to link them with the death of Sithole.
In the meantime, the provincial commissioner of the police in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela, condemned the murder and was confident the investigation team would get to the bottom of the matter.
Manamela urged the public to refrain from taking the law into their own hands. He said crucial evidence could be destroyed when people burn structures the police consider critical to building a solid case against the accused.
