Thokozani Dladla, 30, was allegedly killed by the Phola community on 14 February after an angry community alleged that he murdered his grandfather and cousin.
Police said it was not the first time that Dladla was accused of the same crime as he once was accused of killing 22-year-old Kwenzekile Potgieter. Potgieter’s body was found killed with burnt wounds in her room.
Captain Xaba of Phola police said that the killing of Dladla might be driven by a case of femicide reported on 4 February at number 969 Buffer zone, which claimed the life of Potgieter. Xaba then said, “Phola community was then touched by this cruel act and decided to conduct their own investigations and concluded by pinning it all to the man because he was with her in the same yard when she died. They also accused him of killing his grandfather who went missing in October 2020, of which he allegedly admitted during the assault. Thus they decided to take the law into their own hands and killed him as well. Allegedly the mob started by stripping him naked, assaulted him and cut his manhood with a broken sharp beer bottle before he was killed. Allegedly they were in a process of burning his body before the police arrived,” he added. Furthermore, some of the community members were not happy about the situation and they then called the police and the Ambulance. The police arrived and tried to rescue the man but unfortunately the Ambulance was chased away and as a result, the man died. Police have opened the murder case and no arrest have been made yet.
