By: Talent Buthelezi

A man was stoned to death on Thursday following a robbery in Clermont.

An unidentified man died at the scene after being stoned for hours by enraged community members. The KwaDabeka community took the law into their own hands following a loud scream coming from a nearby shopping center. The scream was of a young lady, Wendy Ngcobo, who cried for her life after being allegedly held captive in the bush for approximately five minutes.

“I was on my way home from the shops walking on a shortcut route that runs through the bush. Along the way I came across a guy, he pulled a knife and held it against my stomach. He then asked for my phone, money and took the bread I bought from the shop and fled,” said Ngcobo. She added that as the man fled, she started screaming for help.

It did not take long after the community members heard the screams and saw a man running down the street. “My friends and I were chilling outside. We ran after the man and captured him and before we knew it, a crowd had formed.  The community started attacking the man,” said Sibusiso Ndlovu.

According to members of the community, the man is also believed to be responsible for many other crimes in the area including a recent house arrest scam in the KwaDabeka A/9 section where a family was held captive for hours.

“The man got what he deserved, he died an unpleasant death. The community will continue to unite against crime in the area. These young men do not fear jail so we feel it’s better if they just die,” said a source who asked not to be named.

However some people felt that the community should not take the law into their own hands. “People must let police do their jobs. I saw a lot of people boasting about killing another human being. That was wrong and little do they know that by killing a person- even if the person is a criminal, it is wrong,” said Nompumelelo Mdluli.

At the moment no arrest has been made, however the ANC councilor in the area Sfiso Zungu had scheduled a meeting to commence for the weekend.