BOPHELONG. – The residents of Joko-Tea squatter camp near Bophelong were fed up when they took the law into their own hands and beat up a suspected thug who had been terrorising and robbing members of the community in broad daylight. It is alleged that five youths robbed members of the community on Friday morning in full view of everyone else. According to members of the community, they got angry when they heard that the culprits had robbed and stabbed their third victim after he refused to give them what they wanted. They tell Sedibeng Ster that this was when they took the law into their own hands and turned to mob justice. “There are many bad things that happen in our community and we are now fed up. These boys have no respect for us. They committed these crimes in full view of the community and probably thought that they would get away with it,” community members say.
The community also add that they made an example of one of the culprits, beating him up in an attempt to teach him a lesson he would never forget. “We are not going to allow young boys to make our community unsafe. This we want to make clear.” Vanderbijlpark SAPS attended to the scene. The young culprit who was beaten up is said to be around 18-years old. He was taken to Kopanong Hospital in Vereeniging after he sustained serious injuries.
