Angry township mob kills clown
The community of Parkhurst Township in Johannesburg is reeling with regret a day after some of its members ganged-up and killed a juggling clown.
The angry mob quickly surrounded Frederick Mann, 42, who was performing what one resident called “a scintillating juggling repertoire” after Yulinda James ran up to him and kicked him in the shin.
The situation quickly turned tragic when a crowd gathered around him and, without any good reason, began battering the clown.
Twenty-one-old James was enjoying a “piss-up” with her friends at a local shebeen when she spotted Mann.
“I did not want to have another situation like the one I saw in “It”. So my instincts kicked in and I felt I had to do something to stop him from hurting me and my friends. Clowns can get crazy.”
Another member of the angry mob, John Mellor, 23, said he joined in, thinking they were beating the township’s rapist.
“I was at another shebeen when someone ran in and yelled that a mob was ‘moering’ a rapist. So my friends and I ran out and just started kicking the shit out of the clown.”
Cheryl Abrahams, a resident who knew Mann, said he was a carefree soul who was always ready with a joke.
“I feel Parkhurst Township has lost a cultural icon. He made us escape the realities of our terrible economic situation and he elevated the arts in a township short of originality.”
Mann is survived by his Maltese poodle, Gary.
