Frustrated by what they see as police inaction, many South Africans are now taking the law into their own hands to fight rampant crime in their communities.
"We have lost faith in the police because whenever we call them during an incident of crime, they take so long to respond," a resident of the Khutsong Township west of Johannesburg told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity.
"And if the criminal is arrested, he is given bail by court and returns to terrorize us," he fumed.
Last week, an angry mob of over 400 Khutsong residents went on a rampage, killing six people accused of belonging to criminal gangs that had long been terrorizing the local community.
"We carried [out] the mob justice so as to send a message to the remaining criminals to quit or face a similar situation," the Khutsong resident said.
One of the alleged gang members, a traditional healer, was burnt alive after being intercepted by the mob as he tried to flee.
Images of his naked burning body were splashed all over the front pages of local tabloid newspapers.
In June, a mob in Majemantsho village near Mafikeng in the Northwest province killed a 34-year-old man after the latter had reportedly stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death.
The man was caught and stoned to death.
The incident was recorded on a mobile phone and uploaded to the internet.
In May, a 25-year-old Somali national operating a business in the Eastern Cape was similarly stoned to death by a mob during a xenophobic attack.
That incident, too, was captured by cell phone and shared on the internet, triggering international condemnation.
Vigilantism had been widespread during the apartheid era, when those suspected of collaboration with the apartheid regime were often burnt alive.
By the end of apartheid in 1994, the practice ended for the most part, before some township/slum dwellers began resorting to it once again in an effort to check rampant crime.
- Tough action
Johan Burger, senior researcher at the Institute of Security Studies, blames the country's rising crime rates on unemployment and poverty.
"Some people in the slums and townships are hungry; they don't have anything to eat," he told AA. "They're unemployed and often get tempted to steal in order to survive."
He urged the government to focus on creating jobs for the thousands of idle young people living in these impoverished areas.
Burger, who is also a professor at the University of South Africa's department of police practice, criticized the rising incidence of mob justice.
"Most South Africans don't know how the criminal justice system works," he told AA.
"They expect to see an arrested criminal immediately sentenced to jail, yet the constitution allows everyone to apply for bail," he explained.
Burger urged the government to take a tough line against vigilantes.
"If some people are arrested and jailed for conducting mob justice, then this will send a tough message to those who take the law into their own hands," he insisted.
Police officers often turn a blind eye when they find suspects being beaten by mobs, as they fear being accused of protecting or collaborating with criminals.
Some police officers, however, believe mob justice sends a message to criminals to stop breaking the law.
In June, two police officers reportedly looked the other way as a mob killed a man suspected of having stabbed his wife to death.
The police officers are currently being investigated for their role in the incident, which was recorded and posted on YouTube.
Last week, South African Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa issued a strongly-worded statement condemning the rising phenomenon of mob justice.
"We strongly warn the perpetrators of such disturbing incidents, because mob justice is unjustifiable," he said.
The minister regretted that vigilantes were often perceived as heroes by the local community.
"Police are in hot pursuit of these so-called 'heroes,' because there is nothing heroic when you burn and kill people," said Mthethwa.
The minister went on to insist that the government would not tolerate kangaroo courts that were illegally convened to decide people's fates.
"The task of society is to report those who commit crime to the police," he stressed. "And, in turn, police will apprehend them."
Reporting by Hassan Isilow
englishnews@aa.com.tr
