Karabo Rammutla
After spending hours on a footpath on Friday allegedly robbing women of their handbags, the man needed a beer.
He went to a tavern with his loot in Extension 8 Cosmo City outside Randburg, the same area where the women had been mugged.
That was a mistake he lived to regret.
One of his victims was also in the tavern and she recognised him.
The woman alerted tavern patrons and the man was questioned. He denied mugging the woman but she named all the items in a bag which the man had on him.
Residents and tavern patrons gave the man the beating of his life.
Police rescued him from the angry mob.
Two handbags and a plastic bag allegedly belonging to some of his victims were found on him.
Resident Lovemore Naka said his wife was once mugged on the path while going to work in the morning.
“I now accompany her to the taxis every morning and come to prepare myself for work too. It’s demanding,” he said.
He said residents shouldn’t have beaten the man.
“He is now going to open a case for residents as well. They should have apprehended him and called the police. Mob justice is not the answer.”
Gauteng police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo discouraged residents from taking matters into their own hands.
“In situations where community members suspect anyone of wrongdoing, they should call the police,” he said.
He said the man was taken to the police hospital.
“Those who were mugged must go to their nearest police stations and open cases,” he said.
