Community on rampage after deadly beating by policing forum

An eyewitness has told of how members of a crime-fighting forum in Mpumalanga allegedly tied up a man they accused of being a thief, beating him up and pouring water over him when they thought he had fainted but he was in fact dead.

The attack on Monday led to the community of Phiva, outside Malelane, going on a rampage later that night, leaving a trail of destruction after torching two houses and four cars belonging to members of the Phiva community policing forum (CPF).

The forum’s offices were also set alight.

Residents said CPF members apparently accused the man in his early 20s of stealing spotlights from a house in the area.

“They caught this young man, beat him while he was tied with wires and even brought him to a tavern where patrons were drinking. They thought he had fainted and poured water over him and when he didn’t wake up, that’s when they realised that he was dead,” said a resident who asked not to be named.

“That prompted members of the public to retaliate and they went to burn the houses of the people who beat the deceased and also burnt the offices of the CPF.”

Provincial police spokesperson Col Donald Mdlhuli said they received a report that members of the community caught a man they believed had stolen from a certain house, beat him up and he died.

“So a group of other community members then attacked the ones who beat the man... We have not arrested anyone and have deployed officers to the area,” said Mdhluli.

Another resident, Sihle Shongwe, said the community did not feel safe.

“Their [CPF] work is to help the police. They catch thugs and hand them over to the police, that’s all. What if the man [murdered] was wrongly accused, now he is dead.

“We want them to be arrested, otherwise we will deal with them,” said Shongwe.

Mdhluli said cases of murder, malicious damage to property and arson were being investigated.

newsdesk@sowetan.co.za