POLOKWANE – The Polokwane High Court has sentenced eight men between the ages of 34 and 60-years-old to a combined effective imprisonment of 33 years each, without fine, for kidnapping, murder and attempted murder.
Police spokesperson, Col Moatshe Ngoepe says the heavy jail terms emanated from an incident where the sentenced men went to the houses of three victims accused of committing burglaries around Ga-Marishane village.
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“They severely assaulted the victims and stoned them before two of the three succumbed to their injuries at the scene,” he explained.
Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Limpopo Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba has warmly welcomed the long term incarcerations of the accused that “do not belong to society”.
“We hope that these sentences will serve as a deterrent to all the perpetrators of mob attacks and killings. Communities must know that one may not fight crime by committing crime. This tendency of taking the law into your own hands must stop but those who close their ears, will be dealt with harshly and without compromise,” concluded General Ledwaba.