◎羅彥傑

The South African government’s continued failure to bring crime under control is leading a growing number of citizens to start taking the law into their own hands, often with deadly results.

南非政府遲遲未能控制犯罪，導致愈來愈多的民眾開始自行執法，結果經常鬧出人命。

"It is sometimes justifiable," says Frits Kreil, who runs a self-styled ’community policing forum’ in Johannesburg’s northern Randburg suburb. "People are fed up with crime and resort to killing to protect their lives and those of their loved ones."

「有時真是情有可原，」在約翰尼斯堡北郊蘭德堡自組「社區治安論壇」的克雷爾說。「大家都受夠了犯罪猖獗，而且訴諸殺人來保護自己與所愛之人的性命。」

In one of the latest such incidents, three members of an armed gang were killed when a local at a pub in the suburb of Emmarentia opened fire as they robbed and pistol-whipped customers earlier this month.

最近一件類似事件，某武裝幫派的三名成員本月稍早在艾瑪倫希亞郊區一間酒館被一名當地人所殺，當時他們在酒館內開火搶劫並用手槍打客人。

The locals raised their glasses as the robbers lay dying and then rang the police. As one of the drinkers told the newspaper： "They died slowly, we all stood and laughed."

當地人士在搶匪倒地奄奄一息時舉杯慶祝，然後才打電話報警。其中一名酒客向某報表示：「他們慢慢的死去，我們所有人都站著，高興地大笑。」

新聞辭典

mete out：分派、給予（獎勵或懲罰）。例句：He often meted out generous treatment to those he defeated.（他常常寬待手下敗將。）

resort to：訴諸。例句：The police had to resort to firing in the air to disperse the unruly crowds.（警方必須對空鳴槍，以驅散無法無天的群眾。）

pistol-whip：用手槍毆打（尤指打頭或臉）。例句：A man suffered minor injuries when he was pistol whipped in the head by the gangster.（一名男子被歹徒用槍打頭部，受了輕傷。）