An angry mob beat a man to death after he was caught allegedly stealing from a house in Etwatwa in Benoni on Monday, Gauteng police said.
The three were caught ”red handed” by a homeowner, said Superintendent Eugene Opperman.
When the owner tried confronting them, one of the alleged thieves fired a shot at him.
”He then shouted for a neighbour to come [and] help and together they arrested the three men,” said Opperman.
A large group of residents who had gathered outside began assaulting the three men with various weapons. They also threw boiling water over them.
One resident called the police who managed to get the three suspects away from the mob. ”They were rushed to a nearby hospital where one of the men died shortly afterwards,” said Opperman.
The two remaining suspects are under police guard at an unidentified hospital.
Gauteng provincial commissioner Perumal Naidoo has condemned the action of people taking the law into their own hands.
”There is no place in a civil democratic society for people to behave like criminals themselves by taking the law into their own hands,” said Naidoo.
The police were investigating a case of murder and attempted murder. – Sapa