Three teens burnt to death
A woman from Etwatwa in Ekurhuleni whose house was set alight by community members now fears for her life.
|||Johannesburg - A woman from Etwatwa in Ekurhuleni whose house was set alight by community members now fears for her life and refuses to stay at her gutted home.
On Tuesday, enraged residents went on the hunt for members of the OVL gang, who have allegedly been terrorising the community.
On Wednesday, Martha Nhleko told The Star how she had received a frantic phone call from her sons when she was on her way to church. He told her that her house was on fire. She immediately notified the police, who escorted her back to the property.
“I’m scared to go home because I don’t know if these people will come again. I feel bad because I’ve had to run away from my house,” she said.
Nhleko claimed that rumours that her son was part of the gang were untrue.
On the same day, twin boys Samkelo and Sabelo Maisela, 16, were burnt to death, allegedly by residents who believed they were OVL gang members.
The deceased family said they were struggling to cope with the trauma.
Elizabeth Maisela, the great-aunt of the boys, said it wasn’t right that the boys met their end in this manner. The boys lost their mother when they were younger and were raised by their grandmother.
Maisela hoped the police could mediate between the gangsters and the community so that the violence in the area would be resolved.
Violence erupted in the area on Sunday after another teenager was burnt to death, allegedly by OVL gang members.
Ekurhuleni metro police department spokesman Clifford Shongwe said four minors were arrested after the incident and were being held at Daveyton police station.
Residents then hunted down children at school, who they believed were part of the gang.
“The community was seen carrying all sorts of weapons: pangas, axes, garden forks, stones and bricks,” Shongwe said.
“Yesterday, (Tuesday) they caught two of them and burnt them,” he added.
By Wednesday afternoon, the situation in the area had calmed down.
The police were using armoured Nyalas to patrol the area, as the community had stoned their other vehicles.
Senior police management had met to discuss ways of solving the situation.
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The Star