JOHANNESBURG - Fourteen suspects have been arrested in Themba in the greater Hammanskraal area for allegedly stoning to death a murder suspect, aged 35, and injuring police officers, police said on Monday.
Police spokesperson Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said the incident happened on Sunday midday and they were arrested on Monday morning by a team that had been tasked with tracking down the suspects.
Provincial police commissioner of Gauteng General Elias Mawela is warning members of the community who engage in serious and violent crime by taking the law into their own hands that police will deal effectively with the perpetrators.
"The victim had been taken out on an investigation to a murder scene of a foreign national who was killed last week on Tuesday. While a detective was busy taking a statement, the victim was attacked with stones and other objects," said Dlamini.
"When reinforcement reached the scene, the victim had already been killed after he had been attacked by more than ten people. The police officer who was also thrown with stones sustained injuries on his legs."
The provincial commissioner is calling on members of the community who were experiencing problems with service delivery to resort to lawful means of seeking help from their local station commanders or their district commanders instead of taking the law into their own hands.
The suspects are expected to appear in the Themba Magistrate's Court on Tuesday on charges of murder and attempted murder.