Last Friday, a middle-aged man approached a group of men in Orange Farm, Johannesburg, claiming he knew of a plot by two men to rob a woman who had recently settled in the area, believing she might have between R20,000 and 30,000. The group, known as Amadoda Emizi, located one of the alleged conspirators and brought him face-to-face with the whistleblower and the targeted woman, who was shocked. In a tense exchange, the complainant said, “I became aware of their plan when I went to see the absent suspect who tried to recruit me for the job.” The suspect denied any involvement.
Unmoved, Amadoda Emizi instructed him to locate his alleged accomplice to establish the truth. He wasn’t home, and the operation was temporarily shelved. Not all the vigilante group’s suspects are so lucky.
Amadoda Emizi loosely translates from isiZulu to “men of the homesteads”. It’s a collective of Orange Farm community members who say they’re committed to restoring justice where formal policing systems fall short. After receiving community complaints, they try to pursue alleged wrongdoers, establish the truth and secure redress while delivering accountability and imposing punishment on their own terms.
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Their actions are often illegal, and some members face their own criminal cases, but they’ve won over community members who feel let down by the police. Rather, it was sparked by urgency,” the group’s chairperson, Sphiwe Hadebe, told Daily Maverick. It was formed in April 2025 “by accident”, said Hadebe.
He said a group of young men returned home from their initiation ceremony not as men, but as gangsters. “They did not approach the initiation custom the right way. They just go without any reflection on whether it aligns with their specific cultures or not, and culturally, that can be a problem. They come back with pangas, knives, guns and other dangerous weapons and terrorise and rob communities,” said Hadebe.
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