KNYSNA NEWS – Representatives of the Sector 4 Mayitshe Community Forum (MCF) handed over a petition to the Knysna Magistrate's Court this week, pleading with the authorities to drop charges against three of their members.
The three members - Jabulane Ndlovu, Siyabonga Mbilini and Zithulelele Nqukuva - appeared in the Knysna Magistrate's Court on Monday 14 June when their case was postponed until 29 November.
According to their colleagues in the MCF, the trio have been charged with assault and kidnapping, which the MCF members believe to be false.
"We are pleading with the magistrate to free Jabulane, Siyabonga and Zithulelele as our community still needs them to fight crime. These three gentlemen are harmless and useful to our community," reads the plea that the MCF handed over to a representative of the court on Monday.
"People like Jabulane, Siyabonga and Zithulelele are an asset to our community. They are our soldiers and our hope to fight against crime in our communities."
The three were reportedly charged after they assisted the forum in capturing an individual who was believed to have stolen from a store in Concordia. "We had seen the person break into the store on the cameras and went to go find him," said MCF chairperson Simthembile Dyonase.
"We asked him to come and see and identify himself on the camera screens and phoned the police so that they can come and arrest the man.
"We then had to wait five hours before any police showed up. The person we had captured then claimed that he had been kidnapped and assaulted, which is completely untrue."
According to Dyonase, the man they had identified as the thief pointed at an old scar, calling it as a 'sign of assault'. Dyonase also said the man was never arrested for stealing from the store. For Dyonase and his compatriots, the experience is demoralising. "We do a lot of work within our community to fight crime. We try to work with everybody to fight crime here because it is not right," he said.
"There are times we are able to find someone and recover stolen items when police or security can not. We are important to this community."
Dyonase and the members of the forum believe that the police are not working to the benefit of those fighting crime, but rather for those committing it. "The police are on the side of the criminals, not on ours. We want to fight it, but they are not always helping us in this regard."
The South African Police Service was contacted for comment via e-mail on Monday 14 June, and again on Tuesday 15 June, but at the time of going to print they had not responded to the statements made by Dyonase.
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