Following the discovery of five bodies laying in the street on Monday morning, the residents of Kanana in Extension 4 in Thembisa, east of Johannesburg, are reeling in shock.
The killings are thought to be connected to an early-morning mob justice incident.
Six individuals were attacked, according to residents who did not want to be identified for fear of being victimised.
The sixth victim, however, is in the hospital fighting for his life.
Bodies laying in the street
“I have never seen anything like this before,” one parent said. “These bodies were laying there unattended, so I had to accompany my kids to school.”
Describing the behaviour of the deceased men in the community, a resident said they always feared for their lives in the presence of the group.
“We woke up to the news, and when I went to the scene, their bodies were still there,” said the resident.
“These men were a part of a gang that is troublesome in this community; they steal and rob people of their belongings. I would say the community had enough of their torture and retaliated.”
The resident added that the gang has a shack in the area where it keeps all the stuff stolen before it is sold.
Death cannot be celebrated
“The community caught one of them, and they found the others as well. We cannot celebrate death.
“But they made our lives miserable because sometimes they would steal electricity cables and leave us with no power for days.”
A neighbour to one of the families of the victims said the deceased is from Zimbabwe.
“There were talks about this boy being a headache in the area, and no one ever paid attention to that,” said the neighbour.
“I feel sorry for his family because transporting a dead person to Zimbabwe is not cheap.”
The family of one of the deceased declined to comment when Sunday World paid them a visit.
“We had a meeting as a family earlier, and we have decided that we will not be making any comments to the media about this matter. Thank you,” said a man before he closed the gate.
At the time of publishing, the police had not responded to Sunday World’s request for comment. This story will be updated once their comment has been received.
