Common purpose: The last hope for the successful prosecution of 'mob justice' murder cases.

Abstract

Mob justice is prevalent in South Africa and the only way these “mob justice” cases can be successfully prosecuted is through the application of the common purpose doctrine. It should be noted that such an important doctrine is under siege, yet it actually has a crucial role to play in “mob justice” murder cases. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation is to defend the importance of having the common purpose doctrine in the South African criminal justice system, particularly in the context of “mob justice” murder cases. I will defend its importance by responding to some of the scathing criticisms of the doctrine that were advanced S v Thebus and Another 2003 (2) SACR 319 (CC), followed by writers such as Burchell, Grant, Rabie and Boister.