Mob justice gone wrong – man was seeking help
He even sent him airtime and the number of someone who was willing to take him to the Eastern Cape
The brother of the 30-year-old man who was allegedly beaten to death by a mob in Reyno Ridge, believe he was seeking help and not intending to steal.
Mr Buyisani Mandandana said his brother, Lizwi Mbhabhama, was mistaken for somebody else and that somebody else had done something that had the community in Phola in uproar.
“Wherever my brother went, people were screaming and shouting at him and calling him names. He would never do something wrong as he was very strict in his ways and hated bad things,” Mandandana said.
He said his brother phoned him on October 1, saying he was fleeing Phola and asked him to try and find someone who could take him to the Eastern Cape to his hometown.
In the meantime his phone battery had run out and Mandandana tried for hours to get hold of him.
He even sent him airtime and the number of someone who was willing to take him to the Eastern Cape.
The next call Mandandana received was from the police who said he needed to come to the mortuary to identify the body of someone they believe is his brother.
Police spokesperson Capt Eddie Hall filled in the gaps.
He said Mbhabhama went into a property in Reyno Ridge and was found by the homeowner who started assaulting him.
The homeowner’s wife apparently called their neighbours, who all allegedly beat him.
“Shortly after paramedics arrived on scene, he died on scene,” Capt Hall said.
“My brother was not a criminal. He was a man desperately trying to find help because his life was in danger,” Mandandana said.
Mbhabhama was a boilermaker at Kusile Power Station.
He was married and has a one-year-old little boy.
Capt Hall said the suspect was arrested the same day and appeared in court the following morning on October 2.
“The involvement of the suspect’s wife and the neighbours is still being investigated and could lead to more arrests,” Capt Hall said.
The station commander of Witbank SAPS Brigadier Lindiwe Ndlovu requested the community to refrain from taking the law into their own hands and stop any form of mob justice violence.
