Charges against ‘cabbage bandit’ withdrawn – TMPD

The Tshwane metro police department (TMPD) has confirmed the withdrawal of charges against self-proclaimed “cabbage bandit” Joe Nkuna.

TMPD spokesperson, Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba said on Tuesday that the fine that was issued to Nkuna was withdrawn by [the] court after he completed a presentation form.

In their response to Rekord’s question, Mahamba clarified that the TMPD had not laid charges against Nkuna, but rather issued him with a fine.

“TMPD did not lay charges against him, but issued him with a fine and by law, if any member of the public is issued with a fine, he or she may approach the court to ask for the fine to be reduced or cancelled and that’s what happened in this case – Mr Nkuna went to court and completed a presentation form to ask the court to withdraw the fine and it was granted,” he said.

However, Mahamba cautioned members of the public against obstructing sidewalks.

“The law doesn’t allow obstruction of a sidewalk. It is punishable by a fine,” he said.

Last week, Nkuna announced the charges against him had been withdrawn both during an interview with Rekord outside his Theresapark home and on social media.

“The case against the cabbage bandit has been withdrawn, unconditionally and unreservedly by the deputy director for municipal prosecutions,” he said during the interview.

“So there’s no case against me and there will be no court case against me.”

ALSO READ: I’ve been vindicated – ‘Cabbage Bandit’, as curbside vegetable garden case withdrawn

Nkuna said this followed after he and his legal team submitted representations on September 28.

In these representations, he said he argued the following points:

– He had broken no law as there was no law which prevented anyone from planting grass, cabbages, or anything else, outside their yards

– What happened to him was a malicious abuse of power

– The by-law he was charged for infringing did not have anything to do with planting anything

“The prosecutors have completely agreed with us, which was not a surprise,” Nkuna said.

While the self-proclaimed bandit could now breathe a sigh of relief, he said the experience had not only been traumatic for him, but his family as well.

“This thing has created trauma and anxiety for my family, especially my wife… She never believed that this would become a firestorm and so many armed officers would be dispatched on a case that was not really even a case,” Nkuna said.

On his social media account, he said the row over his curbside garden was “an unfortunate event that left a deep traumatic impact on myself and my family – physically, emotionally and spiritually”.

“The relentless show of undue force by the TMPD and the fervent attempt to vilify me in the media all took their toll on us,” he wrote.

Nkuna also said that he would not pursue legal action against any of the parties involved.

“I could sue, raise a massive dust storm and get paid, but that is not me. I hope that lessons were learned from this saga by all the parties,” he said.

He added that he hoped the TMPD and Tshwane metro would adopt a new approach where citizens are approached cordially and humanely “in the spirit of batho pele”.

“I hope there is a rethink and a new way of how we harness public urban spaces to fight hunger,” Nkhuna said, also extending gratitude to all those who had shown him support.

Nkuna first made headlines in September when he was issued with a fine for his curbside vegetable garden.

The vegetables from the curbside garden were said to feed less fortunate families and vagrants in the area.

In September, TMPD charged Nkuna with infringing the road traffic act, act 96 of 1996 which was said not to allow for a sidewalk to be obstructed and was punishable with a fine ranging between R150 and R1 500.

Nkuna was fined R1 500.

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