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Residents of Macleantown near East London are counting their losses after a mother, daughter and the daughter’s boyfriend allegedly walked off with their furniture and building material.
A lucky few managed to retrieve their goods when police descended on the trio last week.
The villagers said the scene “was like a market place”.
Police spokesperson Captain Mluleki Mbi this week confirmed the three arrests.
“They were charged for possession of suspected stolen property. They appeared in court and were granted R500 bail on Wednesday,” Mbi said.
Though Mbi could not confirm when the three would be back in court, as the docket was still in court on Friday, the villagers want them to face the wrath of law.
A resident who spoke on condition of anonymity and was among those hardest hit, said he was devastated.
About 200 building blocks, 16 bags of cement and a heap of sand totalling about R9,000 were stolen from his site, where he was building a four-room house.
This happened in May, two days after the material was delivered.
“I suspected where the material might be because there were rumours about them [the accused] and I opened a case. I went to the accused’s home on Monday after I was alerted that police were there, but I only recovered one bag of cement.
“This is so painful. My house is now at a standstill. It would be better if they left this village. I hope the justice system doesn’t let us down.”
Ncumisa Buki lost a four-plate stove and pots in December.
The trio allegedly broke into her shack while she was not home.
She found her goods, among other items, stashed in a home in Ducats.
“It’s not nice to work hard to buy things and have people steal them. I was lucky because I had engraved my initials on my pots. Others were not so lucky and that is devastating,” she said.
Xolile Ngxebeshana said 30 building blocks were stolen from him in December.
“I got home from work to find only dust where the blocks had been. I thought my eyes were deceiving me.
“I went to look for them at the accused’s home, but there were none in sight and that is painful. This takes us a few steps back,” he said.
Source- Daily DispatchLIVE
By:Ziyanda Zweni
