By Kashiefa Ajam, Sheree Béga, Nape Raditlhare and Janet Smith
They told him: "It is people like you who murdered Lucky Dube." Then they pounced on him, beating him up so badly that the suspected thief had to be rushed to hospital with severe injuries.
The vigilante-style attack on Friday by about 20 residents from Bez Valley, Johannesburg, was the most threatening sign of a groundswell of popular anger in the wake of the reggae star's murder.
Fed-up South Africans, outraged at Dube's death, were reclaiming their streets from the criminals.
According to an eyewitness in Bez Valley, a woman was on her way to work when she was attacked by a man who stole her handbag. Her screams alerted a group of Athlone High School boys, who then chased after him.
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"They caught him and held him down. Between 15 and 20 people heard the commotion and ran to where the boys were. They beat him up and all the while telling him that it was people like him who had gunned down Lucky Dube."
Some residents, said the eyewitness, recognised the suspect as being involved in other crimes in the area in recent weeks. "And then they assaulted him some more."
Johannesburg police spokesperson Cheryl Engelbrecht confirmed the incident.
Meanwhile, Gauteng police commissioner Perumal Naidoo has hand-picked a team of top investigators to track down the reggae star's killers. The team is led by Director Charles Johnson, who was responsible for apprehending Leigh Matthews' murderer, Donovan Moodley, and Brett Kebble's alleged murderer.
But despite this crack team, no arrest had been made by Friday night.
Late on Friday, police were still questioning Dube's two teenage children, Nonkululeko and Thokozani, who witnessed the botched hijacking of his car in Rosettenville on Thursday night.
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