This is the chilling scene played out on Monday‚ as angry residents of Dwarsloop village in Bushbuckridge‚ Mpumalanga‚ took the law into their own hands and threatened to bury a man alive.

Tumelo Dibakwane‚ who captured the moment in a cellphone video clip‚ said the police arrived just in the nick of time to rescue the man as the mob prepared to douse him with petrol and turn him into a human torch.

The same man was allegedly caught and beaten by residents‚ twice‚ in the past three months after they suspected him of breaking into homes.

“They caught him before but … this time they said that they were tired of beating him‚” Dibakwane told TMG Digital on Tuesday.

“Someone was suggesting they put petrol on him and burn him. If the police were late by five minutes‚ they had the petrol‚ someone managed to get petrol. The garage was just a few metres away‚” said Dibakwane.  – Agencies