Some Khayelitsha residents are not sorry for the mob killings of eight men in the past few days – and many feel justice has been served.
People were prepared to talk about the killings but were reluctant to be named for fear of repercussions.
One woman, who lives in Monwabisi Park near Endlovini, a few metres from the latest necklacing, said residents were tired of having their electricity cut off every time cable thieves hit the area.
“Like today, there is no electricity in my home because of the thieves. The thieves are almost always never caught by the police or the community.”
She said the man necklaced on Sunday was a cable thief and it was lucky he was caught.
“We were woken up at 5.30am hearing people talking about a man being burnt. One woman said, ‘How do you sleep when someone is burning outside?’, so we went to look and it was true,” she said.
The woman said part of the reason why the man was killed was because “police are not doing their job”.
“When incidents take place, the police take a long time to arrive or they say there are not enough vans and we must wait. Sometimes they don’t come at all or come the next day when it’s all over. A person could be dead by then.
“So people take the law into their hands; what else are they supposed to do to protect themselves?” - Cape Argus