POLOKWANE, June 25 (ANA) – Limpopo police on Sunday again warned communities not to take the law into their own hands and condemned the brutal killing of two people by alleged vigilante groups this weekend.
Acting Limpopo police commissioner Maj-Gen Jan Scheepers again called on “some groups of community members who are trying to turn this province into a banana province” by resorting to violence and assaulting and killing people suspected of crime, including the destruction of their properties, to desist.
He had noted the two latest incidents with shock and disbelief, especially considering the brutality that characterised the killing of both people, the assaults on the survivors, and the trend of this type of incident in Limpopo.
“Members of the community throughout this province are requested to remain calm and give the police space to investigate the incidents fully, and for [the community] to refrain from taking the law into their [own] hands, but rather arrest the suspected person/s or bring them/him/her to the police station; otherwise they are becoming criminals themselves because assault, destruction of property, and killings are serious offences in this country and they will obviously face the consequences by going to jail,” Scheepers said.
Limpopo police spokesperson Lt-Col Moatshe Ngoepe said this condemnation by the general followed two mob-related incidents in the Botlokwa and Polokwane policing areas this weekend.
In the Botlokwa policing precinct outside Polokwane, two suspects aged 32 and 34 had been arrested for murder and kidnapping after Ngwakoana Mokgokong, 28, was allegedly kidnapped by a group of community members at Mangata village. She was taken to a “certain place” where she was severely assaulted, and during that process the police were summoned and reacted swiftly, Ngoepe said.
“The deceased was rescued by the police and taken to the hospital with serious multiple injuries throughout her body, but she later died.”
The motive behind this incident was not clear, because the dead woman had earlier opened a case of malicious damage to property against other people in this community, “but the police investigations will tell”, Ngoepe said.
The arrested suspects would appear in the local magistrate’s court on Monday on charges of murder and public violence.
In another incident, in the Polokwane CBD at the corner of Mandela and Rissik streets, three people were allegedly caught and assaulted by a mob of people. During that time, police were notified.
“Upon the intervention by the police, all the victims were rescued and taken to the hospital, but one later died and he is still unknown. The two other victims are still recuperating in the hospital with serious multiple assault wounds throughout their bodies. The suspects in this matter are still unknown and there is no arrest. The police investigations are still continuing,” Ngoepe said.
Anyone who could assist the police with information about the people involved in these incidents could contact Brigadier James Espach at 082-576-0743 or the nearest police station, or call the crime stop number 08600-10111 or the crime line sms 32211.
– African News Agency (ANA)
