Untold Story Of Mob Justice

Untitled Part 1

Personally I grew up as a very hungry child. NOT by CHOICE! I had both parents until my father passed on at work. According to Act 130 of 1993, the Compensation for occupational injuries and disease act, comprehensive protection to my father as an employee at the mines, who got injured in the course of performing their duties was not compensated but that's okay, we didn't have the need to beg for their money, all we wanted was a reason, an explanation to what happened because we couldn't get the answers from my father, he was an ICU patient. He stayed in the coma for 2 years until the doctors lost hope on his recovery and convinced us to let him go.

2 Years of suffering wasn't a problem, the problem began when my mother started to get sick, TB was the demon disease that had gotten to her. Most of us in the community were fighting a battle of not letting this "thing" get to us, we were also not educated about it but we knew it was a deadly disease at that time. Fortunately she is still surviving the sickness. She survived being the talk of the town too. 17 years of my life, I have never lived a life of luxury but a sad and poor life although i woke up every morning and thanked God for the Gift Of Life. As the eldest child and the first son, i had to step in my fathers shoes and become the "head of the house" by then as we lived in a very strict and patriarchal society. I had to make a plan for my family to be fed every night, leaving school was not a choice but difficulties made me leave. I couldn't focus on two things at once as i was becoming a distraction to other students. I believe everyone has the right to education and i did not want to take that away from my peers due to the gangster life I started living, the life of "UKUPHANDA" got to me blind. I prefer having two circles of friendship, the smart kids who went to school and my gangster friends, the guys i stole cars with, broke into peoples homes with, raped with, killed both women and men with just to feed my family and see the little ones play with full stomachs until one day i wasn't as lucky as i usually was, that day i had forgotten to pray before i went out of the house to go do detrimental work, the usual : Raping, killing, stealing and smoking drugs for strength. The lord knows how i prayed before going out there to do all these things, just this one day i forgot to do so, indeed it was my unlucky day...

"Baba wethu oseZulwini malincweliswe igama lakho umbuso wakho mawufike intando yakho mayenziwe emhlabeni njengaseZulwini. UJehova ungumalusi wami, angiyikuswela. Noma ngihamba esigodini sethunzi lokufa, angesabi okubi, ngokuba wena unami, intonga yakho nodondolo lwakho ziyangiduduza." I had said two prayers at once because i had forgotten the rest of Our Father who art in heaven as well as the rest of The Lord Is My Shepard but in the situation i was , i had to say any prayer that came to my mind. I knew at some point that this day would come but it came too soon, i was expecting it but not now, not today and not in the next few months. Umphakathi caught us red handed , lucky for my friends they managed to get away but i on the other hand was the unlucky one, because i had missed that one prayer i did before leaving the house. After i heard the first 2 whistles being blown by local securities , i knew it was the end for us but what i didn't know is that it wasn't an us day that day but mine, i didn't know that i would be the only one who would be left behind. As i called unto the lords name, a tire was being put in my neck, I was being whipped to a point that my dark skin came off, giving me a pink looking colour. Sjamboks and wires were the worst things to be beaten with. Mind you i suffered from asthma and the smell of petrol being poured on me wasn't doing me any justice not that i needed it because what i was doing was wrong. The look in my mothers face as our eyes locked, mine with helpless teary eyes and voiceless screams, hers filled with disappointment and remorse, i could feel her praying in her heart as she screamed for help and for the mob justice to stop. "Sizani umtwanami bantu benkosi, HELP my child Pleaseee! STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING, HE IS SORRY!" But none of them cared to listen, I doubt they even heard as some kept dragging her away from the horrific moment. I was lucky enough the police arrived right before the fire was started, as rubber bullets were being shot and the chaos starting to disappear into the shacks, i thanked God for kind of saving my life as i knew that i was in a critical stage, i wasn't even sure if i was going to make it to hospital or even out of hospital. Sitting on the hospital bench with a drip on, soaking in my own blood, seeking for medical attention was the worst thing I've gone through. Crime cannot be justified but the little that Umphakathi could've have done was to hear my side of the story, I did it for my family, my little siblings so they could live like other children. I couldn't bare seeing them go to school hungry , i could because i was old enough to understand situations but they couldn't. Hearing those little voices every night "Bhuti Silambile" hurt me so much especially knowing my mother had no strength to go work.  I am lucky I'm alive and well.

"Mob justice is the law of the jungle which has no place in a civilized society" - Diba Diba (Lawyer/Attorney)

"...and that is my untold story of Mob Justice" says Mbongiseni Mboxela, reporting live from Winnie Mandela Hospital, I am Bathabile Dlomo, from DailyNews Tv.