Man killed, woman beaten in mob attack

THE family of a 22-year-old man from Makhaza are seeking justice after he died on Wednesday as a result of mob justice.

Asenathi Silika and 26-year old Zikhona Hlazo were accused of stealing a cellphone. They were stripped naked and brutally assaulted with sjamboks and electricity cables on Tuesday, by two women and three men.

Hlazo sustained serious injuries and has opened a case with the police. Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk confirmed that the police were investigating a case of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm after the complainant was allegedly assaulted in Enkanini, Khayelitsha. Van Wyk said there had been no arrests at this stage.

Silika’s uncle, Thembelani Silika, said the two had gone to drink with friends in Enkanini on Sunday, when a phone was lost and they were blamed. Silika had been in the area for less than two months, he said.

“For him to be killed, based on assumptions and with no evidence or witness, is devastating. We want those implicated to be punished by law and to also ensure that no one will ever again experience such brutality,” Silika said.

Hlazo said they were locked inside a room where they were assaulted with whatever the perpetrators could find.

“There were more than five people in the room when we were drinking, but they somehow decided to pin the theft on us. If I had not offered to pay for the phone, they would have killed us both. They only stopped when I said I had money in my account, after we told them numerous times that we had not taken the phone. By the time my sister came to our rescue, I was naked and shaking,” she said.

Community leader Lumkile Sizila, who condemned the act, called for appropriate ways of dealing with such incidents.