Shock and defiance at return to 'necklacing' in South African township

[FrodosPet]

Vigilante justice is NOT justice. It is just murder trying to put on a pretty face.

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Township mobsick of young gangsters catch and kill six, some using burning tyres; they vow to do so again, despite neighbours' horror

http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1349145/return-necklacing-south-african-township-horrifies-some

On Sunday morning, the residents of Khutsong, a township west of Johannesburg, decided they were fed up with crime and gangsters. A crowd gathered in a local stadium near the township to decide what to do about youth gangs named Casanovas, the Vandals and the Creatures.

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By Monday, at least six people had been killed, four of them beaten and burned alive, and two stoned to death, according to police. One of the first to die was a 61-year-old sangoma, or traditional healer, James Magagula, who was accused of helping the Casanova gang by giving them traditional medicine to make them powerful.

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It's South Africa's gruesome new twist on the "necklacing" of the apartheid era, when men suspected to be spies or collaborators were burned to death, often by having tyres full of petrol tied around their necks and set on fire.

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The Sun reported another unnamed resident saying: "If the police let them go because they are under age, we will make sure they pay for their sins. We will burn them with tyres as we did on Sunday."

[FrodosPet]

1. Xenophobia and its discontents in South Africa

Even though apartheid is a thing of the past, it still has a lasting legacy as South Africans institute a new apartheid based on national origin as opposed to race.

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http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/06/201361895126526626.html

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But South Africa's violence is not limited to rape. As we approach the 20-year anniversary of the fall of apartheid, South Africa remains one of the most violent societies in the world. A video posted to YouTube on June 1 shows the gruesome killing of a Somali refugee man, with young men and boys kicking and hurling bricks and stones on the shattered body of the victim as pedestrians and cars passed by.

The inhumane murder of 25-year-old Abdi Nasir Mahmoud God triggered Somali demonstrations against the South African government. Violence against migrants and refugees in South Africa is often framed as "xenophobic", and it was no surprise to see Somali demonstrators carrying banners and slogans that made this point. Coverage of this violence frequently underscored how the plight of refugees and migrants in South Africa threatens the dreams of the rainbow nation, as envisioned by anti-apartheid leaders such as Nelson Mandela.

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