RESIDENTS of Atteridgeville West in Pretoria yesterday went out in numbers to hunt down thieves terrorising and robbing the community.
The manhunt took place after thieves had broken into a house in Extension 7 yesterday morning.
The owner of the house, Bongiwe Qebe, told Sowetan that she had just left for work when she received a phone call from her cousin who lives nearby. "She told me that thieves were breaking into my house. I then asked her to seek help from the police and community members."
The two alleged thieves learned a hard lesson when community members cornered and decided to beat them up before handing them over to the police.
More residents came up complaining about the same thieves. One of the victims, Prella Masha, identified the two as the ones that held her family at gunpoint recently before robbing them of cellphones, cash, jewellery and electric appliances.
"These thieves left us with our hands bound with cable wires during the night of the robbery," she said.
Some of Masha's stolen items and those of others were found hidden in a shack at the Mshenguville informal settlement after the alleged thieves had confessed to the crimes and led residents to the shack.
The items included flat-screen TV sets, DVD and home theatre systems.
Four other suspects, including a teenage girl, were surprised in the shack and handed over to the police with some of suspected stolen items.
Thieves beaten up, handed over to cops
RESIDENTS of Atteridgeville West in Pretoria yesterday went out in numbers to hunt down thieves terrorising and robbing the community.
The manhunt took place after thieves had broken into a house in Extension 7 yesterday morning.
The owner of the house, Bongiwe Qebe, told Sowetan that she had just left for work when she received a phone call from her cousin who lives nearby. "She told me that thieves were breaking into my house. I then asked her to seek help from the police and community members."
The two alleged thieves learned a hard lesson when community members cornered and decided to beat them up before handing them over to the police.
More residents came up complaining about the same thieves. One of the victims, Prella Masha, identified the two as the ones that held her family at gunpoint recently before robbing them of cellphones, cash, jewellery and electric appliances.
"These thieves left us with our hands bound with cable wires during the night of the robbery," she said.
Some of Masha's stolen items and those of others were found hidden in a shack at the Mshenguville informal settlement after the alleged thieves had confessed to the crimes and led residents to the shack.
The items included flat-screen TV sets, DVD and home theatre systems.
Four other suspects, including a teenage girl, were surprised in the shack and handed over to the police with some of suspected stolen items.