Pretoria – The South African Police Service in Mpumalanga has arrested three people for murder after a 33-year-old man was killed at the Mahushu Trust in the Masoyi area of Mpumalanga, provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi said on Wednesday.
The deceased was accused of stealing.
“The incident occurred on Tuesday, 23 June 2020 and three suspects have been arrested today (Wednesday) in connection with the murder.
"This act was reported to the police on the same day, and on their arrival at the scene, they found the victim had been severely assaulted,” said Hlathi.
“The police then summoned medical personnel, who on arrival certified the victim dead. As a result, the police opened a murder case, hence the arrest of a 28-year-old woman as well as two men, both aged 29.”
Hlathi said preliminary investigations had so far revealed that the deceased was suspected by the trio to have stolen property from their house. They then allegedly assaulted him until he died.
Mpumalanga's police provincial commissioner, lieutenant-general Mondli Zuma, on Wednesday condemned the attack, warning communities to refrain from committing acts of mob justice.
Zuma appealed to communities to report criminal activities to law enforcement authorities rather than taking the law into their own hands.
"People who engage in mob justice should know that the law will definitely be after them. There is nobody who is above the law despite whatever grievances one might have. You cannot be a law unto yourself,” said Zuma.
“We encourage communities to join structures such as the community police forums and work together with their local traditional leadership with a clear mandate of addressing crime.
"We hope the arrest of the suspects will send a clear message to those who might engage in acts of mob justice that regardless of who they are, they will be locked up. Acts of mob justice are acts of criminally – that’s all.”
African News Agency