Shock and defiance at return to 'necklacing' in South African township
Township mobsick of young gangsters catch and kill six, some using burning tyres; they vow to do so again, despite neighbours' horror
On Sunday morning, the residents of Khutsong, a township west of Johannesburg, decided they were fed up with crime and gangsters. A crowd gathered in a local stadium near the township to decide what to do about youth gangs named Casanovas, the Vandals and the Creatures.
Accusations were made. The crowd became a mob.
Simon Khumalo, 57, a Khutsong resident, joined in. The crowd, estimated by police at 400, split into groups to hunt down the young "gangsters" alleged to have been terrorising the community.
My son wasn being burned. I have never seen a more terrible scene in my life
There was no doubt in anyone's mind what would happen when the mobs, who were armed with machetes and sticks, found their targets.
By Monday, at least six people had been killed, four of them beaten and burned alive, and two stoned to death, according to police. One of the first to die was a 61-year-old sangoma, or traditional healer, James Magagula, who was accused of helping the Casanova gang by giving them traditional medicine to make them powerful.
Some reports suggested he was the father of a gangster and was implicated in the killing of a member of a rival gang. A mob surrounded his house and set it alight while he was inside, according to South African police.
It's South Africa's gruesome new twist on the "necklacing" of the apartheid era, when men suspected to be spies or collaborators were burned to death, often by having tyres full of petrol tied around their necks and set on fire.
Vigilante killings are common in South African townships, where communities feel that police don't respond quickly or effectively enough to crimes.