Buried man can't believe he's alive

"Everyone wanted me dead," said a man forced to dig his own grave after being accused of being a thief by his community.

Self-confessed thief Kgohli Lekhuleni, 27, spoke of his ordeal yesterday after being discharged from hospital, where he was treated for injuries sustained when community members attacked him.

"I thought I was going to die the most painful death because everyone wanted me dead," Lekhuleni said. "What happened to me taught me a lesson I will not forget."

Lekhuleni burst into tears and claimed he had been possessed by an evil spirit.

A video of a mob-justice attack on him in Dwarsloop village, in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, was watched thousands of times on social media on Tuesday. It shows a mob surrounding Lekhuleni, who is buried up to his chest. He is struck repeatedly on the head with a shovel.

"Beaten with a shovel, pinched on my toes with pliers. then, worst of all, I was forced to dig my own grave so I could be buried alive.

"I tried to resist getting into the grave, but the beating was getting worse and I realised these people were serious.

"When they started to put soil on top of me I accepted it is over and I was going to die."

Lekhuleni's sister, Masana, 33, said the family did not understand why he pursued a life of crime because they fed and clothed him.

"He doesn't smoke nyaope or dagga. We find it difficult to understand what is he using the money for, because he hardly buys anything for us," she said.

Police rescued Lekhuleni, a father of one, as the mob was about to douse him in petrol.