Mpumalanga police are investigating online threats against a Warrant Officer following a chaotic anti-drug protest that escalated into vigilantism.
Mpumalanga police have launched a high-level intimidation investigation following online death threats against an Ermelo Warrant Officer who was filmed trying to calm down an angry mob during an anti-drug protest.
The social media backlash erupted after a community march on Wednesday, 10 June 2026, mutated into vigilantism. After handing over a formal memorandum of grievances, a segment of the crowd took matters into their own hands, identifying specific residential addresses in Ermelo where they alleged narcotics were being actively peddled.
According to police reports, the demonstration rapidly deteriorated into lawlessness as protestors breached property lines and jumped over yard fences to search for suspected drug dealers.
"Men and women in blue responded and called for calm while attending to the allegations, in the presence of the complainants," police said.
