We asked people their opinion about mob justice.

The escalation in murder cases in the Vhembe district, following a mob justice incident last Sunday when residents of Vyeboom village attacked a rape suspect, has been ascribed to an utter lack of respect for human life.

The deceased was identified as Ailwei Tshishonga (37) of Vyeboom.

A resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "Residents were angry because there were a number of cases in which they were robbed of their belongings and women were raped in broad daylight, so they decided to teach the criminals a hard lesson.The angry mob stoned the men and assaulted them with various weapons, while some fetched tyres and petrol to burn them."

 "The angry community had just begun to set one of the criminals alight when the police arrived.'' He said the community had taken the law into their own hands because they claimed the police were not doing their job."Our community is sick and tired of the police arresting criminals and then, within weeks, they are released.''

"In previous weeks, three people were robbed by thugs of their belongings and the residents are now taking the law into their own hands to protect themselves." He said that the angry community decided to hunt for the suspect and soon came back with him. They did not give him a chance to explain his presence and started attacking him with every weapon that they could lay their hands on. The police and leaders of the community had to struggle to free the man from the angry crowd.

 The mother of the deceased, Ms Elisa Tshishonga, said angry residents had come to the suspect's house armed with pangas, sjamboks and sticks. They arrived in three bakkies at Tshitungulwane  to force the suspect to tell them what he knew about the rape and robbery at Vyeboom. They went with him and killed him at Vyeboom. "The angry mob stoned my son and assaulted him with various weapons."

She said she was shocked to learn about the death of her beloved son. "I received a call in the afternoon of the incident, informing me about Ailwei's death. I was so shocked and confused while my heart was bleeding with pain because I know that Ailwei was a good man. How on earth can it happen this way, when we still need him more in life? We are only waiting for the law to take its course, although we know that my son will never come back."

Elisa described her son as a loving person who smiled and joked with everyone. "He had no grudges against anybody. We will miss him dearly because he is irreplaceable. How can death be so cruel as to take the person who was a pillar in our family? We depended on him for advice and we learnt a lot from him during his lifetime. Anyway, God has done his will and we only have to accept what happened."

Col Ronnel Otto said that a man had been beaten to death. Residents had detained him, tied him up and pulled him onto the back of a bakkie. She said that the deceased had been beaten with different objects and had died on the scene. Otto was very critical of the action taken by the livid residents who had participated in the mob justice incident.

“We are always discouraging the community from taking the law into their own hands. 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.'' The police arrested five people, who appeared in the Vuwani Magistrate court on Monday. They are Bongani Mavhina (41), Wilson  Netshisengani (64), Cathrine Ragimana (55), Arnald Mulaudzi (33) and Calvin Tshidumo (41). They were granted bail of R1000 each and their case was postponed to 5 August for further investigation.