Daily Sun (December 8 2014) - THE desperate man stood on the ledge for more than an hour, praying and reading his Bible and wondering if he should end his life.
Instead of comfort from the people on the ground, he received a challenge.
JUMP, THEY CHANTED. JUMP!
In the end, the nameless man gave up on life and threw himself off the building, landing on the first floor ledge. He died instantly, his Bible lying next to him.
A witness told Daily Sun they noticed the man standing outside his flat on the fifth floor of the building at the corner of Bree and Simmonds streets in central Joburg on Thursday afternoon.
"When people saw that he was thinking of committing suicide they encouraged him to jump," said the witness.
"They joked and said they would catch him. They did a countdown from 10 for the man to jump."
The witness said somebody went up to the man's flat and tried to convince him to come inside, but it was too late.
"After the man jumped we were all shocked," said the witness.
"I guess we didn't think he would have the guts to jump."
Another witness told Daily Sun the man worked as a street vendor in Jeppe Street.
"I haven't seen him for a few days. I asked some of the people what made him do it but nobody seems to know," he said.
SAPS, the Metro police and paramedics came to the scene and declared the man dead at the scene.
Cassey Chambers from the South African Depression and Anxiety Group said: "It's incredibly sad that there are people who encourage others to kill themselves.
"It takes it to a whole new level when you have people chanting jump, jump, jump."
She said people who kill themselves are usually totally hopeless and depressed.
"I think we need to look at ourselves as a society," she said.
Spokesman for the Joburg Central police, Warrant Officer Xoli Mbele, confirmed the incident and said that an inquest had been opened.
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