A man was beaten to death after stealing three nips of brandy at a tavern in Jojweni village in Ngqamakhe, Eastern Cape police said on Thursday.

Mcebisi Ntshiqa was allegedly seen by a customer stealing the alcohol at a tavern situated in Khayalethu store on Wednesday, said Captain Jackson Manatha.

"The customer and the tavern owner then allegedly severely assaulted Ntshiqa with sticks. When they discovered that the man was dying, they took him to a local hospital where he died on arrival," said Manatha.

Police opened a case of murder and were expecting to make arrests soon, he said.

Sapa

W Cape: The contenders Zille, Boesak, De Lille, Brown We take a tongue-in-cheek look at how the big names battling for the W Cape stack up.
The iafrica.com debate Hanging money Should political party funding be regulated? Ryan Bubear and Hadlee Simons argue it out…
Election Focus An election ballot For the latest election news, features, profiles and more, check out our Election Focus page.