TEMBISA, SOUTH AFRICA — Residents of a black township raised bail for a murder suspect, then burnt him to death after he was condemned by a kangaroo court.

A tire filled with petrol was hung around the suspect's neck and set alight.

The people of the Winnie Mandela squatter camp in Tembisa, east of Johannesburg, hung a tyre [sic] filled with petrol around the neck of the suspect, Johannes Masemela, then set it alight.

Masemela's case, reported here yesterday, is not unique. The Government admitted last week that it was disturbed by increasing mob justice across the country.

Three months ago television showed a group of youths stripped and tied to a lamppost in a township outside Cape Town being whipped after being "convicted" of raping a young girl.

"Paying bail for criminals and then killing them is liked by everybody."

One resident of Tembisa township, Johannes Motaung, said: "The idea of paying bail for criminals and then killing them is liked by everybody. We don't trust the justice system."