Mob justice, vimba, lynch mob or a vigilante act - they all mean the same. It refers to a person running for his or her life after being accused of some crime. In Makhado (Louis Trichardt) this practice of jungle justice is rearing its ugly head more and more.

Two weeks ago, a mob of people suddenly started chasing a screaming man through the local taxi rank. He ran quickly and came out of the taxi rank, trying to escape in the direction of the residences along Devenish Street. The mob finally cornered him and started dragging him along the road. They kicked and beat him.

“Stop killing me!” he pleaded, covering his head with his arms as more people battered him with their shoes. “I didn't steal a box of eggs. I bought it from somewhere else!”

The mob, which mainly consisted of hawkers and workers, allege that the man (later identified as 49-year-old Shadrack Ngoveni) stole a box of eggs from Ronald Takawira's stall. Fellow hawkers claim to have seen Ngoveni snatch the eggs and alerted all the other hawkers, including Takawira, who had come back, and the vimba started.

When the people around were assaulting Ngoveni, Takawira pleaded with them not to do so, because it placed the suspect's life in danger. He hauled Ngoveni up from the tarred surface and pushed him along the street in the hope that the police might arrive to rescue him.

“Stop protecting the thief!” a woman criticised Takawira. “He stole from you.”

The police arrived 10 minutes later and found people still beating Ngoveni. They finally managed to push a bloodied Ngoveni into the back of the police van, with Takawira's help.

Seeing that the man had been locked inside the van, the people dispersed. “I am not laying any criminal charges against him,” said Takawira. “He has had enough pain already.”

Ngoveni was treated at the Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital and released on the same day. He returned to work last Thursday, six days after the incident. “I was admitted to Elim hospital and stayed there for three days,” Ngoveni said. “What the people did to me is not good. I only went to the taxi rank at lunch time to buy some cigarettes and eggs.”

He maintains that he had merely stood near Takawira's stand, when three boys mugged him. “They took my R100, as well as R200 which belonged to my colleague, who had sent me to get him some cigarettes,” he explained his side of the story. “I didn't steal anybody's eggs.”

Makhado Hawkers' Association chairperson Dollen Negota says that they could not condone any stealing in the area where they conduct their business. “Anyone who thinks of stealing from us or from our visitors must think twice before doing so,” warned Negota.

The spokesperson of the Makhado police, Capt Maano Sadiki, condemned the act of mob justice. “In our country, we don't have the law of the jungle,” Capt Sadiki said. “All incidents of crime, including theft, should be reported to the police.”