An alleged burglar was beaten and burned to death in Khayelitsha – in the sixth fatal mob attack in Cape Town this year.
|||Cape Town - An alleged burglar, Sivuyile Sothyantya, 25, was beaten and burned to death in Khayelitsha on Sunday night – bringing to six the number of fatal mob attacks on suspected criminals in Cape Town this year.
Police found Sothyantya’s badly burned body in a communal toilet on an open field off Lansdowne Road (renamed Jeff Masemola Road last week), at 40 Section in Makhaza, just after 9pm.
Last year 80 people – including at least 19 from Khayelitsha – were killed by mob violence in the province. So far this year, mob attacks have occurred in Philippi, Gugulethu and Mfuleni.
Residents told the Cape Times on Monday Sothyantya was attacked by a group of about seven men when he allegedly broke into a shack in the area. The residents said the incident occurred around 8pm.
A resident, who asked not to be named, said Sothyantya’s murder was sparked by a group of men who urged other community members to join in. “The guys were sitting outside a shebeen. They were not drinking alcohol. Someone shouted that there was a housebreaking, the men stood up and ran to the field. I stood about 40m from where they were and saw them beating him. I knew they were going to kill him,” he said.
“When there is so much crime in the area and police (are) not doing anything about it, we are going to see this happen every day. People are fed up with these young boys robbing and stealing from their own people,” the man said.
Another resident, who lives about 10m away from where Sothyantya was killed, said he heard noises just after 8pm.
“I was in bed and heard loud noises outside. I looked through the window and saw a bunch of men chasing someone. They got to him and started beating him. I closed my window,” the man said.
“About an hour later I heard the sirens and people talking outside. I knew something was wrong but did not feel like going outside… My neighbours told me that someone was killed,” he said.
Residents said they feared victimisation or prosecution. Most felt the general complaint was with police response to incidents reported.
Police spokesman Andre Traut said the death was being investigated. “The victim was found in a public toilet burned to death at 40 Section Makhaza. The motive is yet to be established,” Traut said. A murder case has been opened. No arrest has been made.
The deaths this year come amid wrangling over a stalled commission of inquiry into allegations of police inefficiency in Khayelitsha which has now been taken to the Constitutional Court by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa. The case will be heard in August.
jason.felix@inl.co.za
Cape Times