"We don't trust the police and the justice system," said Phumzile Madondo, a resident who contributed money for bail.

This kind of rough justice appeals to South Africans thirsting for revenge.

In spite of appeals by the authorities to communities not to take the law into their own hands, vigilante groups offering protection have sprung up all over the country.

Leopards

In the Northern Province "Mapogo a Mathamaga" (the leopard with brown spots) was founded by businessman John Mzgolego.

Members who pay for protection display the group's leopard emblem on their premises, a signal to would-be criminals that they will be tracked down, caught and dealt with in the same way that a leopard stalks and devours its prey.

Vigilante groups cause a headache for police

Mapogo became so effective it went national, and ultimately its leaders landed up in court on charges of abduction and attempted murder.

In the Western Cape, a Muslim-based group "People Against Gangsterism and Drugs" was formed in response to the scourge of gang violence on the Cape Flats.

But it turned into a terror group and has become as much of a headache for the police force as the gangs who deal in death and drugs.

Criminologist Wilfried Scharf, of the University of Cape Town's Institute of Criminology, suggests that the only solution is an effective partnership between the police and communities who can provide the manpower to be trained as neighbourhood watch volunteers.

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