Gospel singer and member of the Worship House Gospel Choir Kaptain Pro from Makumeke village in Malamulele has spoken out after he and a female companion were attacked by a mob recently who falsely accused them of stealing from shops at Nkuna Kraal Mall.
The incident occurred on 16 March. Speaking to Limpopo Mirror, Kaptain Pro said they had been returning home from Bungeni village when, about 5km from the Nkuna Kraal Mall, a white BMW had allegedly driven up alongside their car. The passenger of the BMW requested to search his car but would not give a reason, so Kaptain Pro refused and drove on. The next moment, the passenger of the BMW allegedly produced a gun and started shooting at them, so Kaptain Pro drove straight to the mall, where he thought they would be safe.
"We ran into the mall and hid inside FNB. When everything appeared to be settled outside, the bank's management summoned the mall security to help us. To our surprise, [the] security informed us that we were being suspected of stealing. Stealing what, he could not tell us."
According to Kaptain Pro, they were cuffed by the security personnel and pushed out of the bank, after which a mob of shoppers allegedly joined in the assault on them, leaving them both wounded and traumatised. "We were beaten and kicked until the police came to rescue us. They put us into a van and took us to the clinic. After we were examined and treated, we were released to go home," he said.
The next day, Kaptain Pro laid a charge of assault against the driver of the BMW who, according to the National Prosecuting Authority's spokesperson, Mashudu Malabi Dzhangi, is the owner of Nghala Security CO (the security service at Nkuna Kraal Mall). The accused, Steven Maruping Maake, was arrested and immediately appeared in the Hlanganani Magistrate's Court (17 March). During his second court appearance on 22 March, Maake was granted R5 000 bail. The case was postponed to 18 May for further investigations.
No charge of theft was ever made against Kaptain Pro by the mall or the security company, but despite his proclaimed innocence, the gospel singer said that many fellow church members still viewed him as a criminal because of sloppy journalism by two other publications, which had apparently labelled him as a criminal. "I don't know where they got their information from, but it only added insult to my injury," he said.
Kaptain Pro wants to warn the public not to join in blindly when an alleged suspect is being assaulted as it might just be that the life of an innocent person is involved.
On Monday, 1 May, Limpopo Mirror contacted the accused (Steven Maake) for comment, but he said that he did not feel comfortable having a telephonic interview. He suggested meeting our correspondent in person on Tuesday morning (2 May), but when the correspondent called him to confirm a time to meet, Maake said his lawyer had advised him against the interview.
On Tuesday, 2 May, our correspondent contacted the manager at Nkuna Kraal Mall for comment. We were referred to the regional marketing manager, Ms Lebohang Matlala, who requested that we send our media inquiry via email. On Wednesday, we contacted her again to follow up on their response, but Matlala said they would not be able to comment, since the matter had been handed over to the police.