BOPHELONG – Two young men from Bophelong met their brutal death after being accused of stealing a plasma TV.
The horrific ordeal unfolded overnight, turning the township into a scene from a horror movie.
This comes after Thato Malimabe (28) and Michael Matlaila (27) allegedly broke into a house in Extension 04, claiming the TV as a payment for a debt owed by the homeowner over a gardening piece job.
On Monday evening, their night took a deadly turn when a mob of angry men including the homeowner hunted them down to retrieve the stolen appliance and some items.
The duo was found loitering in a shack at Malimabe’s home when they were dragged out and viciously beaten in front of Malimabe’s terrified family.
With all the screaming, barking dogs, and loud helpless screams, the duo’s nightmare was beginning.
Speaking to Sedibeng Ster, sister to Thato who asked not to be named shared chilling details of how the drama unfolded.
“We heard loud voices from the back of the house and when we got outside, Thato and Michael were being assaulted by four men who kept asking about a plasma. The mob took the duo and left with them, with their hands fastened with a wire to one another,” she said.
“The men took our brother and his friends, claiming they were taking them to the point where they sold the TV before taking them to the police station, that was the last time we saw them,” she added.
Despite the police recovering the TV and ordering the mob to release Malimabe and Matlaila, they decided to take justice into their own hands, determined to “teach them a lesson,” they tortured the duo to death.
As dawn broke, the disturbing events reached an ugly climax when the TV owner packed the duo in a wheelbarrow, tied their bodies with a wire, and paraded them to his house.
“The beating incident happened at 17 Avenue Bophelong, he pushed them in a wheelbarrow to Extension 04 where he laid their lifeless bodies next to a lit heater with their hands on their chests,” detailed the sister.
Surrounded by a crowd of horrified neighbours desperately trying to help the deceased, it was too late.
The house owner, claiming he needed to return the borrowed wheelbarrow, fled the scene, leaving his home a gruesome crime scene.
A grieving mother, Nthabiseng Matlaila (49) said “We were called to the scene by Michael’s cousin who told us [together with the father] that my son has been killed. When we arrived, I only recalled dozens of shocked residents surrounding the house.”
“We are devastated by the incident. My son had a drug problem but he didn’t deserve to die like this. Michael wasn’t staying with us, but he randomly visited. Seeing him alive always made me happy, now he is killed,” said the weeping mother.
Vanderbijlpark police spokesperson Sergeant Sabelo Sigcu confirmed a double murder is under investigation and a quartet is behind bars for the crimes.
The quartet appeared briefly at the Vanderbijlpark Magistrates Court on Thursday, July 25 and the matter was postponed to August 04 for further investigation and bail application.
