Two killed in mob justice incidents

A man who was released on parole and who had allegedly terrorised the community around Tshirenzheni, Dopeni, Tshikombani and surrounding areas met the wrath of angry residents when he was beaten to death and set alight at Tshirenzheni last Saturday.

The man, Kenneth Nematswerani (37), died of his injuries. The incident happened after angry residents accused him of being behind a spate of crimes, such as rapes, robberies and housebreakings. The last straw was when the accused allegedly raped two girls around the area and his case was reported to the Siloam Police.

Nematswerani was released on parole in June last year after he had spent 11 years of a 20-year sentence in prison for rape. He was arrested again at Mphephu in August for robbery and released in October because of a lack of evidence

The angry community beat them up and paraded him naked through the village before setting him alight.

In another incident, which happened at the weekend at Rabali, an 18-year-old man met the same fate. He was beaten and set alight after being accused of rape. The man, allegedly a Zimbabwean national, had not been identified yet at the time of our going to press.

Residents said they had had enough of the criminals who roamed the streets, disturbing the peace of the village, robbing people and attacking them and raping them at will. “We are fed-up, and this is a strong message to all out there who are terrorising our community. This is what they will face. We will not fold our hands when our lives are in danger,” several angry residents said.

According to members of the community, they are “sick and tired of the police arresting criminals and then, within weeks, they are released”.

The spokesperson for the SAPS in Limpopo, Brig Motlafela Mojapelo, said that he was concerned about the fact that the community had taken the law into their own hands. “We are always discouraging the community from this practice. If a crime is committed, the community should call the police and let the officers do their jobs. People should take into consideration that taking the law into their own hands is a downright criminal offence,” he said.

Date:26 January 2020

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

Read: 2476