PICS: Bloodthirsty mob justice

Shootings and deadly panga attacks involving foreigners have struck fear into a Vaal township.

|||

 

By IIanit Chernick

Johannesburg - Adinew Ashamo was sitting in a mini-market, waiting to do errands or to help the next customer who came in when two men entered the shop.

He was rattled by gunshots as the men opened fire at his colleague, pumping multiple bullets into his body. Terrified, Ashamo fainted from shock.

This is how he recalled a shooting at Tshepong township in De Deur, in the Vaal, when two men shot and killed an Ethiopian man on Saturday. This was just one of the deadly attacks involving foreigners on the same night.

In Thokoza, Ekurhuleni, an Ethiopian man narrowly escaped death when residents attacked him after he allegedly set a Malawian alight, following an argument.

The man was rescued by the police before they arrested him on charges of attempted murder, police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said.

The Malawian is still in a serious condition.The Ethiopian was discharged and is in custody.

On the same night, the police pounced on three men - all Somalians - in connection with the De Deur incident. “Officers from the K9 Unit located the suspects’ vehicle in Mayfair and arrested them,” Dlamini said, adding that a murder docket had been opened.

Recounting the shooting on Sunday, Ashamo said: “The men came in, they didn’t say anything, they just shot my co-worker. They fired at least six bullets, I've never seen anything like this in my life,” he said, adding that he fainted.

“I feared for my life, I thought I would be next.” He said the shooting had left him traumatised.

In neighbouring Evaton, a teenager was killed and three others injured after a mob attacked them with sjamboks and pangas in what the police believe was mob justice-related.

The mob accused the boys of murdering another youth on Saturday night and a spate of other crimes in the community.

The gang is also accused of murdering a taxi driver last week. The man's body was set alight.

One of the victims, a youth aged 19, was lucky to survive death, his mother said. He was hit repeatedly with pangas and sjamboks on the head and shoulder at his home. The mob also broke all the windows in the house. The attack had left the boy's mother, Ma-Lerato Liphapang, fearful.

“I begged them to stop but they told me if I raised my voice they would hurt me,” said Liphapang.

She added that her son, Lerato, was only attacked because he knows the gang of five teenagers who had allegedly been robbing, raping and murdering community members.

“He and my other son know them but have nothing to do with them. They wanted to beat my younger son, that's why they came here, but he wasn't home so they attacked Lerato because they thought the gang was hiding in our home. They (the gang) weren't anywhere near our home, why would my sons hide them?” she said.

The mother said the angry mob had threatened to come back and burn the house down. “I'm not going to sleep at night, knowing that they can attack us at any time. My neighbours are also afraid.”

As she spoke, a group, which included taxi drivers, were on the hunt for the five boys after they allegedly murdered the teenager and taxi driver last week.

The five boys were spotted and then chased to the other side of Everton where they were cornered in a yard, with two managing to hide in a house.

A witness said one of the five boys escaped while another tried to run away, but was encircled by the angry mob. “They took turns hitting him with pangas, kicking him and standing on him, there was a lot of blood.”

The other two boys were also beaten but police came to their rescue.

“Two of the boys were moderately wounded and the third was in a critical condition. They were rushed to hospital,” said Sebokeng police spokeswoman Sergeant Gertrude Makhale. The critically wounded teenager succumbed to his wounds.

“We are angry,” said a woman called Nomsa. “They rape and break into our homes and the taxi drivers are angry because they say they murdered one of their own and burned his body.”

ilanit.chernick@inl.co.za

@Lanc_02

The Star