Police in Limpopo have launched an investigation after two men who were accused of crime were brutally killed by vigilante groups at the Bokgaga Mokgolobotho village.
The horrific incident happened in Maake, outside Tzaneen, on Wednesday.
Police were alerted about the incident by one of the victims after he managed to escape.
“Upon their arrival at the scene at approximately 11am, they (police) found the burned bodies of two men. The crowd had already dispersed. Police found an assortment of objects on the scene including stones,” Limpopo provincial police spokesperson, Colonel Malesela Ledwaba.
“A preliminary police investigation indicated that the community mobilised after they accused the three men of committing crimes in the area.”
The irate community members then dragged the victims from their homes to the nearby mountains where they assaulted and burned them.
Meanwhile, provincial commissioner of SA Police Service in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has strongly condemned the prevalent acts of vigilantism in the province.
“Acts of vigilantism are condemned in the strongest possible terms. We therefore make an appeal to communities not to commit these acts. To those responsible, the law will have to deal harshly with them,” said Hadebe.
Police have opened two counts of kidnapping and two counts of murder.
IOL