IMBONGOLO, MJIKENI TORTURE FOR SUSPECTED CRIMINALS

LAVUMISA - Imbongolo or mjikeni has become the new language or rather another brutal way to counter rampant crime in Lavumisa and surrounding areas.

Imbongolo or mjikeni is the new form of punishment or torture adopted by Lavumisa folks, which involves tying a suspected criminal to a log suspended between two Y-shaped poles on each end or stripping the suspect naked and making them lie flat over a drum before administering a beating and even torching the suspect in the event they delay confessing to committing a crime.

Imbongolo is a donkey in vernacular, while mjikeni refers to a game of see-saw, and the terms may have been chosen by the residents for the resemblance of the punishment to the acts of riding the domestic animal and playing the game of see-saw.

It is alleged that a number of people have lost their lives through this brutal way of punishing suspects or method of extracting a confession from criminal elements, according to a member of a community policing forum from Mpalane, at Qomintaba.

Tensions

This is the same area which is currently engulfed by tensions and the threat of more open violence following the recent torching of two young lads after they were suspected of stealing dagga and cash from a certain homestead.
“Yes, people decided it was enough after crime became rampant. Criminal elements were stealing valuables like cellphones from homes, some taking away the little that people had harvested as a way of earning an income.So, it was decided that the best way to curb the scourge was dealing with the criminal elements straight away. We lost one boy who was torched with an accomplice last week, then another one was killed in a neighbouring area, apart from the four who died around Nkonka (also situated around Lavumisa),” narrated a man who spoke under the condition of anonymity.

At first, the member of the community policing forum was hesitant about divulging information relating to the new form of punishment or torture, which is usually carried out by a mob. Dry Aloe vera trees, which are common vegetation around the area, are reportedly doused with petrol and burnt underneath a tied victim. For the Dlakudze family of Mpalane community around Qomintaba, the night of Monday April 29, 2024 will not be soon forgotten.
Right in front of children and community members, young and old, irate residents decided to take the law into their own hands.

Jabulani Dlakudze (31), who was accused of stealing dagga and cash from a local homestead, was assaulted by a fuming group of residents in an open field, not far away from the home where two bags of dagga and about E8 000 in cash had been forcefully taken away from the owners, at gunpoint on the previous day. He was said to have been assaulted alongside an accomplice, who was described as a former teacher.

Assaults

Eyewitnesses recalled that the assaults continued for no less than two hours and that members of the community took turns assaulting the victims with an assortment of weapons, including sticks and bush knives. The witnesses alleged that the pair was also subjected to the new form of punishment, which has reportedly been embraced by the angry communities.

In an attempt to put an end to the torture, the duo was said to have confessed to the crime. The police, who were called from the nearby Hluti Police Station, are said have came to the rescue of the pair and they were whisked to Matsanjeni Health Centre, where Dlakudze was transferred to a superior health facility due to the extent of his injuries. Both victims were said to have sustained multiple injuries but Dlakudze later succumbed to his injuries, about four days afterwards.

Dlakudze is one of the people who reportedly died in recent months due to this new form of torture, which has supposedly caused the demise of a number of people in recent months. His case or the incident was confirmed by Deputy Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Assistant Superintendent Nosipho Mnguni.

Mob justice is not unique to the people of Lavumisa, it is deeply rooted in human nature to react as a collective by performing group punishment whenever people feel wronged and that the acts of crime are not attended to.
However, professionals usually advise against or discourage such violent actions.

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