Paul Kirk
On Monday, the Department of Justice declined to prosecute street trader Goodman Msomi on a string of criminal charges, which were laid when he attempted to uphold the law.
Msomi is no ordinary street trader – he is a founding father of Traders against Crime, a group that has helped to stop the degeneration of Durban’s CBD.
His case is under investigation by the anti-corruption unit. Chris Edmunds, vice- chair of the CR Swart community police forum, described it as “incredibly serious – perhaps the worst possible blow to community police relations we have ever faced”.
Last Friday, Msomi nabbed a notorious conman and marched him off the Broad Street police station. The sergeant on duty refused to do anything with the suspect. After a heated argument, Msomi was charged with stealing a pair of handcuffs and thrown in jail for the weekend. The handcuffs were a gift from a detective at the Durban murder and robbery unit – for helping to arrest a robber.
Msomi was also charged with disturbing the peace and was allegedly told: “Kaffirs should not waste the time of the police with their shit.”
The conman walked out of the police station. The witnesses and victim were told to leave.
Msomi is livid. “When I was arrested, the police filled out the charge sheet very quickly. When we arrest rapists, muggers and so on we have to fill out the charge sheets ourselves. The police always say they are too busy to do that.”
Now Edmunds is worried Msomi and his fellow traders will give up the war against crime.
“From January to June this year we had 83 armed robberies in the Durban CBD. In late May, Traders against Crime launched an intensified campaign to stop the armed robberies. We have had around four robberies since then,” said Edmunds.
Traders against Crime represents almost 3 000 street traders.