UGLY SCENES OF MOB VIOLENCE HIT RUSTENBURG

Rustenburg – The ugly face of mob justice reared its head in Rustenburg with the burning of a Nigerian national on Saturday, 21 April.

According to police, the Nigerian national was chased by a mob, caught and burnt alive following skirmishes in Bethlehem Street in the Rustenburg CBD.

Police spokesperson lieutenant Ofentse Mokgadi alleged that the mob wanted to forcefully enter a tavern allegedly owned by foreign nationals but were repelled by security who fought them off.

“During this process they burnt a car near the tavern that is alleged to belong to a foreign national. Luckily there was no one in the car. When the mob could not enter the tavern and moved on to a bottle store belonging to another foreign national near the tavern,” lieutenant Mokgadi said.

“The mob looted the shop and tried to burn it down but did not succeed. The owner ran away and met two police men who tried to help him fight off the mob. However, they were outnumbered and in the process the owner tried to run away, but was caught by the mob and burnt alive,” Mokgadi said.

No arrests have been made and a case of murder and public violence is being investigated.