Zimbabwean stoned to death in SA

Tuesday, 14 June 2011 22:54

A ZIMBABWEAN man was on Monday stoned to death by a South African mob Beitbridge Bureau Chief A ZIMBABWEAN man was on Monday stoned to death by a South African mob in a repressive action targeting foreigners accusing them of fuelling criminal activities in the area. The incident occurred in Seshego suburb, a few kilometres northwest of Polokwane City, in Limpopo Province. Police sources said the incident occurred at around 8pm at Section 75 in Seshego. The man's body has since been conveyed to Polokwane Government Hospital mortuary while police are still making efforts to contact his relatives. Limpopo police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi confirmed the incident, saying they were yet to make any arrests. He said they were appealing to anyone with information to report to the nearest police station. Brigadier Mulaudzi said: "Preliminary investigations show that the mob was accusing foreign nationals there (Seshego) of fuelling criminal activities in the neighbourhood. The group of people went about intimidating the foreign nationals and unfortunately, there was a Zimbabwean national whom they cornered. They assaulted him before they stoned him to death. "Some of the victims had their houses vandalised and their belongings thrown out of their houses. "A report was in turn made by some concerned residents, leading to the deployment of the public order unit which managed to disperse most of these groups. "The officers are still deployed in the area until further notice. We are still carrying out investigations and we hope to account for the assailants soon. "These irresponsible people wanted to cause mayhem, but the situation has calmed down now." The incident comes a few months after seven other Zimbabwean men were fatally assaulted with metal bars by a mob in the Western Bank area of the same city accusing them of fuelling housebreaking cases in the suburb. Twelve suspects were picked up a week later by police in connection with the matter.