Police arrived just in time to save a Grahamstown woman from an angry mob this afternoon, 12 October.
Residents in the town’s Xolani area marched to the homes of two murder suspects, calling for them to be removed from the area.
Police arrived just in time to save a Grahamstown woman from an angry mob this afternoon, 12 October.
Residents in the town’s Xolani area marched to the homes of two murder suspects, calling for them to be removed from the area.
The suspects, a man and a woman, face charges in separate cases.
The residents, taking matters into their own hands, had told the police they were planning the event.
Somngesi Street resident Nolukhanyo Kahla said they (community members) had heard that both suspects in the two cases were out of custody.
"As residents we decided that we don't want them in our community because we don't feel comfortable living with them [here]," she said.
In August, popular Radio Grahamstown DJ Simphiwe “Peaceman” Ngeleza died in Settlers Hospital, hours after he was stabbed outside a tavern in Somngesi Street.
The residents first made their way to the Nonzube Street home of the man charged with Ngeleza's murder, to chase him out of the area.
From there they made their way to Royi Street, in the same area, to chase away the woman who is a suspect in the murder of her boyfriend.
The woman was released on R500 bail in the Grahamstown Magistrate’s Court on 1 August.
The 31-year-old woman was arrested on 25 July after relatives of her boyfriend, Bonakele Ngqiyaza, found his body in a pool of blood in his room. The couple had reportedly had been arguing.
Magistrate Thembela Mata granted the woman, who faces murder charges, R500 bail.
Today, police officers arrived just in time to take the 31-year-old woman away, as residents charged towards her outside her Royi Street home. Police removed her from the crowd, while a relative who was with her at the time looked on.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Luvuyo Mjekula said the police had been told about the event.
"Police were on the scene to ensure that there was no violence," he said.
The woman is back in court on November 7.
Read more in Friday's edition of Grocott's Mail.
