Two criminals are fighting for their lives after they were tied in a car and dragged in the streets of Winnie Mandela informal settlement in Tembisa yesterday in Johannesburg. The third criminal succumbed to the injuries sustained after he was dragged by a moving car. According to the residents of Winnie Mandela, the three went on rampage and robbed people around the area of their belongings.

TIED AND DRAGGED AROUND THE AREA

Thando Mtyila who owns rooms in the area told Zimoja that the three went on rampage robbing tenants of their belongings. "They ran out of luck as they had robbed three houses, before they went to another female tenant who fought with them. They wanted to break in by force and the lady managed to stand by the door and prevented them from entering her room by force. They then decided to shoot directly at the door and that is when the lady screamed for help," he said.Mtyila said that the community came out in numbers and surrounded them. "The community was tired of them breaking into tenants' houses and robbing them of their belongings. They surrounded them and tied them in cars and dragged them around the area. They were badly injured unfortunately by the time the cops came. The other two were rescued by cops who called an ambulance for them and taken to Tembisa Hospital," Mtyila said.

FORCING ENTRY 

Gauteng SAPS Spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo confirmed that the incident. "The Tembisa Sector teams received a complaint of mob justice at Winnie Mandela. On arrival a group of people dispersed leaving three men on the ground with tyres on their necks and blindfolded,"he said.
Masondo further detailed how the incident happened."According to the bystanders,  the three men were dragged from Zone 4 where they were accused of house robbery . It is alleged that they broke and entered two different rooms in the same yard, where in one room they stole a cellphone and R900 cash  next room they could not enter but shot the victim who was trying to balance her door as the suspects were forcig entry," he said.

TAKING THE LAW INTO THEIR HANDS

The victim who was shot was taken to Tembisa hospital in a critical condition. "Hearing the screams of the victims, the community came out in numbers, cornered all three suspects and started assaulting them while dragging them.Two of the suspects were rescued by police and taken to Tembisa hospital under police guard while the third suspect succumbed to his injuries at the scene," he said. Tembisa police station Station Commander Brigadier Roopchand Sookraj strongly condemns the act of criminality within the community. "It is a good idea to have neighbourhood watch and recognised patrollers and citizen arrest, but the community must refrain from taking law into their own hands as they are incriminating themselves," reprimanded Brigadier Sookraj.