Diepsloot residents captured and beat to death an armed man who had been firing shots in the air earlier on Tuesday. The man's armed accomplice managed to escape the angry mob.
Traumatised residents have been bruised by a spate of violent crimes in the township in recent weeks and despite a high profile visit from the police minister Bheki Cele a few months ago, crime has continued to plague the area.
After the two men started firing in the air, community members began blowing whistles to alert people that their help was needed. The police were called and soon dozens of people gathered to chase the men through the maze of streets.
The police could not pursue the fleeing suspects through the narrow passages with their vehicles, but residents on foot didn't give up. They followed them.
They cornered one of the shooters who was beaten to death by residents wielding sjamboks, sticks, stones and bricks.
A community member who watched the events unfold described to Scrolla.Africa what happened: "One person reported on a community WhatsApp group that the two men were carrying guns and shooting in the air randomly."
The resident, who asked not to be named for fear of being targeted by criminals, said that when the men saw that they were being followed, they started shooting at the residents and the police.
"Seeing that they were cornered by the growing number of community members, the suspects went through narrower passages in extension one. One of them tried to hide by pushing open a shack where the woman owner was bathing at the time.
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"The woman screamed for help and community members dragged him out of the shack into the street and started beating him up. By the time the police's tactical response team (TRT) arrived at the scene, residents were piling tyres on his body waiting for petrol to set him alight. He was already dead."
The incident happened a day after Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda visited the crime-ridden township. Gwamanda promised the residents to bring more boots on the ground with more Metro Police being deployed in the township.
Lefa Nkala, one of the community leaders, said it was unfortunate that people had taken the law into their own hands. "As leaders, we strongly condemn this act of vigilantism," he said.
Another leader of the community, Loyiso Toyiya, said it would take time for the police to clean up Diepsloot. "Besides huge police deployment, there are still people carrying guns and randomly shooting in the community. It shows how comfortable these criminals are. This must end."
