Vigilante attacks have claimed the lives of nearly 1,300 people in the Eastern Cape over the past four years, with hundreds of others surviving brutal assaults that often left them with permanent injuries, according to figures tabled in the Bhisho legislature.
Between March 2022 and March 2026, 1,893 vigilante attacks were recorded in the province, resulting in 1,287 deaths and 606 injuries.
The figures, contained in a written reply by community safety MEC Xolile Nqatha to questions from former DA MPL Yusuf Cassim, expose another alarming trend — only 10 convictions were secured despite hundreds of cases reaching the courts.
Nqatha told the legislature there were no convictions during the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 financial years.
Nine convictions were recorded in 2024/2025 and just one in the financial year that ended in March.
Nqatha attributed the attacks to “intolerance by communities, and lack of knowledge of justice processes”.
Vigilante attacks have been recorded in all districts, including the Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City metros.
One survivor, a self-confessed crystal meth addict from Mdantsane, escaped with his life after being assaulted by members of a local anti-crime forum and the occupants of a home who accused him of housebreaking in January 2025.
“They stormed into my shack in the early hours of a rainy Wednesday morning, kicked down my door, before dragging me outside, accusing me of housebreaking,” he said.
“As I pleaded my innocence, I was assaulted by both the forum members and the people from that house with a huge wooden knobkerrie [and] a golf club, I was also punched and slapped numerous times.
“I was fortunate that someone had called the police, who arrived before it was too late.”
The man suffered two broken legs, fractured ribs and several broken teeth.
He spent nearly two weeks in hospital and months recovering at home.
He alleged that after police arrested the real burglary suspect and recovered some of the stolen property, he was persuaded by some of the people who assaulted him not to open a criminal case in exchange for R700.
One of the most notorious vigilante killings resulted in the Bhisho high court sentencing 16 villagers — including pensioners — to four life sentences each for murdering four young men accused of cable theft in Ndindwa village, Debenek, on December 31 2022.
The group assaulted and burned the victims alive in front of their families before attempting to conceal the crime.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said the sentences should serve as a warning to communities.
“When people take the law into their own hands, they do not become heroes; they become criminals.
“No suspicion of wrongdoing, no anger and no frustration with crime can ever justify the taking of a life.
“What occurred in Debenek was not justice; it was murder, followed by an attempt to obstruct the very system designed to protect communities.”
The latest alleged mob-justice killing occurred last week in the Bholothwa area, near Komani.
Police said the body of a 25-year-old man was found in a donga a day after he was allegedly assaulted and dragged from a tavern.
Eight suspects were arrested in connection with the attack and appeared in the Bholothwa Periodical Court.
Police spokesperson Captain Yolisa Mgolodela said the victim had allegedly been confronted by the tavern owner and several other men over claims that he had previously tried to rob the establishment.
The accused remain in custody and are due back in court on Wednesday.
DA MPL Leander Kruger said the vigilantism figures reflected a collapse in public confidence in the criminal justice system.
“But the most alarming figure is the near-total failure to secure successful prosecutions.
“Vigilantism can never be justified, but the government must be honest about why communities reach this point.
“When residents do not see criminals being arrested, when dockets collapse, when prosecutions fail and when offenders return to the same neighbourhoods, people lose faith in the rule of law.”
Kruger called on Nqatha and provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Vuyisile Ncata to increase visible policing in vigilante hotspots and strengthen investigations to ensure more successful prosecutions.
EFF MPL Simthembile Madikizela said the “collapse of SAPS” had left communities without confidence in law enforcement.
He urged the NPA and police to establish dedicated task teams to investigate and fast-track the prosecution of outstanding cases, saying all those responsible must face the full consequences of the law. — Daily Dispatch