Shoppers in the busy Thohoyandou shopping centre have vowed to take the law into their own hands and to clean the town of all forms of criminality.

This follows a spate of robberies and muggings in the town that left scores of shoppers poorer. The shoppers were not the only losers, but criminals also lost some of their members when the residents retaliated.

This year alone, five alleged criminals became the victims of the notorious necklace when angry residents took the law into their own hands, blaming the police for colluding with criminals.

On Tuesday, the Mvusuludzo Taxi Rank came to a standstill when hundreds of angry residents chased an alleged thug, catching up with him at the mall, before meting out instant justice to him.

He was beaten with an assortment of objects that they could lay their hands on. For more than an hour, the police had an ugly standoff with angry residents, who wanted to finish off the man who was lying in a pool of blood with wounds all over his head. Bottles of beer were also thrown to the police, who struggled to control the angry crowd while waiting for an ambulance.

The man, who is about 36 years old,is  believed to be from Ngovhela village outside Thohoyandou. Information at this paper's disposal is that the community members said that the man was notorious in criminal circles and had been terrorising shoppers since the morning and had allegedly attacked more than five people. He was allegedly caught red-handed while robbing an elderly woman. It is alleged that he gave back the money that he had stolen from the woman, who screamed for help.

Shoppers who were nearby intervened and, realising that he was in danger, the man tried to run away, but a huge crowd joined the chase and he was finally cornered at the Mvusuludzo Mall. He was dragged to the taxi rank, where they continued beating him.

During the stampede, many hawkers lost stock when their stalls were damaged and their stock was scattered all over when people wanted to have a glimpse of the alleged criminal. Even the ambulance that came to assist the injured man had a difficult time reaching the spot where the man was lying.

Taking the injured man to the ambulance needed the support of the police as angry members of the community tried to stop the medical personnel from taking him to the ambulance. The ambulance had to be escorted out of the taxi rank by armed police as residents tried to block the way.

At one stage, rotten tomatoes were thrown at emergency workers and the police who were assisting at the scene. Those at the scene blamed the police, saying they were in cahoots with the criminals, which was the reason for the upsurge in criminal activities in town. "We are tired of crime here in town. Day in and day out we have to endure the pain of seeing our poor old people being robbed in broad daylight. Police know of these criminals, but they are not doing anything to stop them and we have resolved as a community that we will clean this town of all forms of criminality,” said one of the residents of Thohoyandou.

“We are warning all the criminals that they should know that Thohoyandou is a no-go area for criminals. You come here at your own peril and they will never come out alive," he added.

Thohoyandou police spokesperson Lt Col Mashudu Malelo confirmed the incident and said they had opened an attempted murder case. "We are sending a warning to the would-be criminals not to venture into Thohoyandou as people are very angry. We are also sending a stern warning to community members to control their anger. Residents should not take the law into their own hands, as this is also a crime. They should rather report it to us or hand over the criminals to us," he said.