This latest incident of mob justice happened in Protea South in Soweto this week as irate residents assaulted four men they accused of stealing from them.
100 people, mostly women, then assaulted the man they suspected of stealing a grass cutter from one of the houses.
According to reports in The Star newspaper residents caught one man after entering a property which led a crowd of residents to his accomplices. They then dragged four men across the township to their community police forum (CPF) but when the police arrived the mob turned on them too – stoning them and their vehicles.
The attack shows that the community does not trust or have confidence in the police. One woman told The Star residents were struggling with more and more crime.
“It’s not the first (time) and we’re tired. The police arrest them today and tomorrow we see them here again.”
When forensic pathology services picked up his body, residents ululated, cheered and shouted “That’s what we do to criminals”.
The three surviving suspects, believed to be in their 20s, were taken to hospital.
