Seven people have been arrested in connection with the brutal murder of three people in Kraaifontein.
Seven people have been arrested in connection with the brutal murder of three people in a vigilante attack in Wallacedene, Kraaifontein.
The battered bodies were discovered at about 8.30am on Monday at a dam on a farm in Botfontein Road.
Police spokesperson André Traut said detectives started to pursue leads to determine what transpired that led to the death of the men.
A joint operation involving officers attached to the provincial serious and violent crimes unit, provincial command centre and the provincial tracking team traced identified suspects at their respective “hideouts” and they were detained.
“Vigilantism is condemned in the strongest possible terms and those who are under the impression that they can take the law into their own hands and get away with it, should reconsider. This is what seven suspects, aged between 24 and 49, realised when they were arrested during a tracing operation which commenced Tuesday night in Wallacedene and concluded Wednesday morning with the seventh suspect behind bars,” said Traut.
Once charged the suspects are expected to appear at the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court facing the three counts of murder.
A community leader who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal said the three men that were killed were alleged robbers.
“They were known by residents for committing a number of crimes including robbing people and houses.
However, they ran out of luck on Monday when they were caught red-handed after robbing a house with a woman and her children. It is suspected that they saw the husband had left for work. The community is aware of the arrests made and it is allegedly due to the girlfriend of one of the deceased who made a list of people she suspected to have been part of the mob justice.
“Residents are not happy because some of those people were not part of that and even the way the police operation was conducted has left residents upset. A meeting will be held tonight to see a way forward because the station commander has not responded to the grievances,” he said.
Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Anroux Marais cautioned the public against taking the law into their own hands.
She said vigilantism must never be condoned and is not the answer to the scourge of crime.
“I want to urge our communities not to take the law into their own hands, despite how frustrated and angry our residents are about the unacceptably high levels of crime in many communities. Those who do resort to vigilantism become part of the problem,” said Marais.
Cape Times
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