{"id":295435,"date":"2026-01-12T10:18:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T08:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/?p=295435"},"modified":"2026-01-12T10:22:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T08:22:06","slug":"community-accused-man-of-cable-theft-before-fatal-mob-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/community-accused-man-of-cable-theft-before-fatal-mob-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Community accused man of cable theft before fatal mob attack"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>THABONG, WELKOM &#8211; <\/strong>The police are investigating a case of murder following an alleged incident of mob justice that resulted in the death of a 25-year-old man at Phokeng informal settlement in Thabong, Welkom<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to police reports, officers were alerted to the mob justice incident on Sunday, 11 January, at approximately 11:15. Members responded swiftly to the scene, where they discovered an African male lying motionless on the ground with multiple head injuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The victim was declared dead at the scene by emergency medical services personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"526\" height=\"526\" data-attachment-id=\"295437\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/community-accused-man-of-cable-theft-before-fatal-mob-attack\/mob-justice\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/mob-justice.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"526,526\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"mob  justice\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/mob-justice.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/mob-justice.jpg\" alt=\"Mob Justice is a crime\" class=\"wp-image-295437\" srcset=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/mob-justice.jpg 526w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/mob-justice-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/mob-justice-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 526px) 100vw, 526px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Police investigations have revealed that the victim succumbed to his injuries after allegedly being assaulted by community members who accused him of stealing copper cables,&#8221; says Sgt. Palesa Thabana, Lejweleputswa SAPS communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>ALSO READ:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/welkom-police-condemn-acts-of-vigilantism-20230203\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Welkom police condemn acts of vigilantism<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No arrests have been made at this stage as the investigation continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lejweleputswa District Commissioner Major General Tholie Afonso has strongly condemned the mob attack, stating that such actions undermine the rule of law. &#8220;Mob justice is a crime and constitutes a direct infringement on the rights of citizens,&#8221; the commissioner said, warning individuals against taking the law into their own hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>ALSO READ: <a href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/welkom-man-dies-at-the-hands-of-mob-justice-20221206-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Welkom man dies at the hands of mob justice<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police are appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the incident or possesses information that could assist with the investigation to come forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The public may contact the Thabong Serious and Violent Crimes Unit on 060 985 9276, Crime Stop on 08600 10111, or submit information anonymously via the MySAPS App.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to police reports, officers were alerted to the mob justice incident on Sunday, 11 January, at approximately 11:15. Members responded swiftly to the scene, where they discovered an African male lying motionless on the ground with multiple head injuries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":295436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":"","_yoast_wpseo_content_score":"60","_yoast_wpseo_inclusive_language_score":"90","_yoast_wpseo_is_cornerstone":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_opengraph-image-id":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-title":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-description":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image":"","_yoast_wpseo_twitter-image-id":"","newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","_crsspst_to_novanewscoza":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozabloemnewsexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozacityvision":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozadistrictmailhelderberg":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaeikestadnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozahermanustimes":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakomani-karoo":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozakougaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozamthathaexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozanoordkaapbulletin":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapaarlpost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozapeoplespost":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaswartlandgazette":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozatygerburger":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaudexpress":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozavrystaatkroon":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweskusnuus":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaweslander":false,"_crsspst_to_novanewscozaworcesterstandard":false,"_EventAllDay":"","_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":"","_EventShowMapLink":"","_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":"","_EventVenueID":"","_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":"","_VenueShowMapLink":"","_application":"","_batch_id":"","_company_name":"","_company_tagline":"","_company_twitter":"","_company_video":"","_company_website":"","_custom_id":"","_EventDuration":"","_EventOrigin":"","_EventTimezoneAbbr":"","_featured":"","_filled":"","_job_expires":"","_job_location":"","_media_credit":"","_media_credit_url":"","_menu_item_menu_item_parent":"","_menu_item_object":"","_menu_item_object_id":"","_menu_item_target":"","_menu_item_type":"","_menu_item_url":"","_menu_item_xfn":"","_navis_media_can_distribute":"","_navis_media_credit_org":"","_OrganizerOrigin":"","_provider":"","_pum_built_in":"","_pum_default_theme":"","_pum_form_conversion_count":"","_remote_id":"","_remote_name":"","_remote_position":"","_report_frequency":"","_report_reference_dates":"","_send_attempts":"","_site_id":"","_sitemap_exclude":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_sitemap_priority":"","_source_url":"","_subscription_period":"","_subscription_period_interval":"","_subscription_price":"","_tec_slr_enabled":"","_tec_slr_layout":"","_template_type":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_ticket_start_date":"","_tribe_aggregator_allow_multiple_organizers":"","_tribe_aggregator_content_type":"","_tribe_aggregator_file":"","_tribe_aggregator_finalized":"","_tribe_aggregator_hash":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_id":"","_tribe_aggregator_import_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_interactive":"","_tribe_aggregator_origin":"","_tribe_aggregator_post_status":"","_tribe_aggregator_preview":"","_tribe_aggregator_source_name":"","_tribe_aggregator_type":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_hide_attendees_list":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":"","_tribe_ticket_version":"","_type":"","_VenueOrigin":"","_wp_attachment_context":"","_wp_attachment_image_alt":"","_wp_font_face_file":"","_wp_old_date":"","_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":"2","_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw_text_input":"","_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_block-catalog":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"7970","_yoast_wpseo_primary_job_listing_type":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_nova_retailer":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_publication":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_tribe_events_cat":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-duration":"","_yoast_wpseo_videositemap-rating":"","_menu_item_classes":[],"_tribe_modified_fields":[],"_wp_attachment_backup_sizes":[],"_wp_suggested_privacy_policy_content":[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This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Community accused man of cable theft before fatal mob attack | Vista<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/novanews.co.za\/vistanews\/community-accused-man-of-cable-theft-before-fatal-mob-attack\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Community accused man of cable theft before fatal mob attack\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to police reports, officers were alerted to the mob justice incident on Sunday, 11 January, at approximately 11:15. 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