NECKLACE NOUN AND VERB (POLITICS)

In South Africa, noun: A tyre soaked or filled with petrol, placed round the neck and shoulders of a victim, and set alight, used as a form of unofficial execution. Often attributive, in necklace killing, necklace murder, etc. transitive verb: To kill (a person assumed to be a police informer or collaborator) using this method. Also as an action noun necklacing. Etymology: A figurative use of necklace, based on the fact that the tyre is placed round the neck. In the days of hanging, a noose was also sometimes referred to metaphorically as a necklace. History and Usage: It was in the mid eighties that Western newspapers began reporting the use of the necklace by South African Black activists on fellow Blacks who were suspected of betraying the Black rights movement. Such reports continued into the early nineties, even after the unbanning of the African National Congress and the move towards greater recognition of Black rights which followed. Four more blacks...have been killed in 'necklace' murders...in South African townships. The Times 22 Apr. 1986, p. 7 We heard that two nine year olds in that area had been 'necklaced', having rubber tyres filled with petrol put round their necks and set alight. Tear Times Summer 1990, p. 6