DESPERATE to see an end to the incessant crimes in their areas, the Ndlabeyilandula and Nhlabane communities gathered outside the KwaMbonambi Magistrate’s Court yesterday promising to take the law into their own hands if justice does not prevail.
During the march, 23-year-old suspect Sbonelo Ndwandwe was facing charges of robbery after he reportedly threatened an Ndlabeyilandula family at 2am on 23 March.
Complainants said Ndwandwe broke into the family’s homestead outside KwaMbonambi, wearing a balaclava and held them at knife point.
He stole two cellphones that were later traced by police, which led to his arrest.
The case was remanded until Monday at the Empangeni Magistrate’s Court for bail application.
According to the KwaMbonambi SAPS, both communities had suffered numerous attacks and invasions this past weekend and finally stood up to say ‘enough is enough’.
‘The communities came in numbers to the court waving placards stating, ‘baphuma siyabulala siyancwaba asifuni phoyisa (if released, we’ll kill, we’ll bury),’ said KwaMbonambi SAPS spokesperson, Lieutenant Aubrey Bongani Msane.
‘The KwaMbonambi police together with the SAPS TRT (Tactical Response Team) were present at court to monitor the situation.
‘It all went well with no incidents reported.’
