Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. S.Afr.) to murder by placing a petrol-soaked tyre around a victim’s neck and setting it alight; thus necklacing n.

1987		Athens (GA) Banner-Herald 29 Sept. 4: Winnie Mandela has endorsed the use of ‘necklacing’ against her political opponents.
1989		J. Hobbs Thoughts in a Makeshift Mortuary 379: You can talk! What about necklacing?
1989		C.J. Fourie Big Boys in Kani (1994) 131: daniel: Who do you necklace? solomon: Impimpi.
1989		R.G. Barratt ‘I Might be a Racist, But’ in What Do You Reckon (1997) [ebook] Anyone [the ANC} don’t like they kill by [...] placing a tyre full of burning petrol around their necks. It’s called ‘necklacing’.
1990		R. Malan My Traitor’s Heart (1991) 326: The sole result was a massive rise in the number of necklacings.
1990		P.-D. Uys Part Hate Part Love (1994) 358: A child was necklaced near the gate last night.
1999		Observer Mag. 30 May 23: Rapists are usually [...] necklaced — a tyre full of petrol is set ablaze after being pushed over their bodies.
2000		A. Brink Rights of Desire (2001) 202: Petrol. I know, I saw that mos in the bad times when they did the necklacings.
2008		Mail and Guardian (Johannesburg) 4 Feb. 🌐 Whites died during Apartheid, trying to stop Blacks necklacing other Blacks .
2011		IOL News (Western Cape) 30 Mar. 🌐 Vankielson said ‘the ANC spent more time necklacing young people in the townships than fighting the apartheid regime’.