A 39-year-old Cottonlands man, accused of being involved in a hijacking, was beaten to death and dumped near his home on Tuesday morning, July 4.
The man, believed to be a scrap collector, had been forcefully taken from his home, near Phoenix, on Monday evening.
His family do not want his name and details to be divulged.
According to his brother, on Monday evening, a group of about 20 men had arrived at their home at about 10pm.
“They came here and were very angry. They were screaming and shouting and accused my brother of being involved in a hijacking. We tried to intervene and discuss things but the group was not interested in listening to us. They managed to get a hold of him and dragged him out of the house and took him away. We tried to follow them, but there were too many of them pushing us back while others went off with him,” said the brother.
He said they searched for him overnight but could not find him.
“Then ... four of those men brought my brother back in a wheelbarrow. He was hurt very badly. They assaulted him quite a bit. We were shocked. He was barely breathing and in a lot of pain,” said the brother.
The family then contacted Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) for assistance.
RUSA spokesman Prem Balram said their medics examined the man and found he had sustained fractures to his arms, legs and ribs.
“He also suffered multiple lacerations to his head and passed away before other emergency services arrived on scene,” said Mr Balram.
A case of murder was opened and police are investigating.