A Paarl local councillor was stabbed in the cheek with a screwdriver on Monday after cornering an alleged cellphone thief, the Independent Democrats said.
Conrad Poole, newly elected ID councillor for Amstelhof, chased the man through the streets of his ward, the party said in a statement.
Poole was inside his office in Rooiborsie Street when he heard a man outside shouting ”vang hom!” (catch him).
”I went outside and saw the man running after another man. I gave chase and caught up with the suspected thief in a few seconds,” the ID quoted Poole as saying.
”As I caught up to him, he turned around and swung with his right hand. I was stabbed in the cheek,” Poole said.
Poole stood his ground and was soon joined by ”a huge number of members of my community”, who together helped him subdue his attacker.
”The guy had a cellphone that he apparently stole from a 13-year-old girl,” Poole said.
The ID said Poole was treated at a local doctor’s surgery for a deep stab wound and laid a charge at the Paarl East police station.
He won his seat in a by-election in Amstelhof last week. — Sapa