Motorist withdraws case after patrollers apologise, pay back R2,5k

A Mpumalanga man whose vehicle was impounded and forced to pay R2,500 fine by taxi patrollers for giving his neighbour a lift has withdrawn the case after the patrollers paid back the money.

Themba Mahlangu said his brother, the owner of the car, called him and asked him to withdraw the case because the patrollers had come to his house to apologise. He claims he was never threatened nor forced to withdraw the case.

Police spokesperson Col Donald Mdhluli confirmed that the patroller was arrested this morning and the case was later withdrawn.

Nelspruit SAPS had opened a hijacking case after Mahlangu told them that the patrollers had grabbed his keys after they saw him giving the lift to a neighbour, taken the car, driven away in it and told him that he needed to pay R2,500 fine to get it back.

He called his brother who then went to the taxi rank to negotiate to get his car back which the patrollers refused to give him. He only managed to get it back the following day after paying the R2,500 fine.

Speaking to Sowetan this afternoon, Mahlangu said he got a call this morning from his brother who told him that the patrollers went to his house today and told him that the person who had taken the car keys from him the day they barred him from giving his neighbour a lift had been arrested.

The brother also told Mahlangu that the patrollers apologised about the incident and paid his R2,500 back.

From there, said Mahlangu, the brother asked him to withdraw the case as the patrollers had made amends.

“Everything happened in the morning. These people went to my brother and they probably softened him up and he called me to withdraw the case because these people came and returned the fine.”

Mahlangu then went to Nelspruit magistrate's court where he had opened the case but “police told me to then go withdraw the case at Nelspruit court as the matter was handled there”.

He said had it been up to him, he would have not withdrawn the case to teach the patrollers a lesson.

“We won't sit down with them, we are not friends and if they do it again I will show them what I am made of,” said Mahlangu.

On the day of the incident, Mahlangu – who lives in Barberton – said he had gone with his neighbour to Nelspruit. He went there to service the vehicle and when he was done he waited for the neighbour who had gone to Sars.

It was when the neighbour was about to get into the car that the taxi patrollers pounced, he said.

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