Thabo’s heart was shaking like an earthquake. He was being hunted down by the police. From a bird’s perspective, a police helicopter flew around the area trying to spot him from above. As he was running away, the police helicopter finally spotted him and, under the spotlight, he realised that they were onto him. He took a U-turn and attempted to get away from the helicopter by entering the maze of the squatter camp in the township.

“Hands in the air! This is the police,” shouted one of the policemen in the helicopter. “Stop or we will shoot you down,” the policeman continued.

Thabo, the thief on the run, finally surrendered himself. A couple of police vehicles arrived at the spot where he was laying on the ground with his hands behind his back.

“Please don’t shoot me, I have surrendered!” Thabo shouted.

As one of the police officials cuffed him, he read out Thabo’s rights to him. “You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law …”

They locked Thabo into the back of a police van and drove him off to the local police station.

“Suspect in custody. I repeat, the suspect is in custody,” the police Captain said, speaking through the radio in one of the police vehicles.

The residents of the township gathered around, looking on as the squatter camp became flooded with police vehicles.

Thabo was a notorious gangster in the township. He was a thief and a killer, and the police had been hunting him down for quite a while. The mission was accomplished, and the residents in the community gave a standing ovation to the police for finally arresting Thabo, the notorious gangster. This was a job well done, and a burden had finally been lifted from the shoulders of the police Captain, who was also the head of the crime unit in the local police force. He was the man responsible for combating crime in the township.

“Thank you, my fellow community members,” the police Captain said. He was a proud man with goose bumps on his face. It was time to put smiles on everyone’s faces. The township had finally turned a corner in the struggle against crime in the community.

Thabo was finally locked away. He was in jail, trapped in a cell.

“Captain Sibiya, Captain Sibiya!” one of the policemen shouted at the Captain, holding a cell-phone in his hand.

“What is it officer?” Captain Sibiya asked.

The officer gave the Captain the cell-phone. “There is a phone call for you. The man on the phone says he wants to speak to you directly,” the officer said.

“Hello, who am I speaking to?” asked the Captain.

The man on the phone remained silent for a while and finally replied. “Good evening Captain Sibiya. My name is John Mahlangu, I am Thabo’s brother.”

The Captain was a bit surprised when John spoke to him. “Okay John, what can we do for you?” he asked.

“I am inside your house right now. I’m with a group of gunmen and we are holding your family hostage at gunpoint,” John explained.

The Captain could not believe what he was hearing. There was pain in his eardrums as he realised that his family was in danger. “Please don’t harm them, tell me what you want,” he pleaded, begging the man not to hurt his family.

“It’s simple, Captain Sibiya. I want you to release my brother from jail, or I will kill your wife and daughter,” John said.

“Okay, just give me time to organise his release papers,” the Captain said.

John did not like what the Captain was saying. As far as he was concerned, the Captain was speaking trash. “I’m afraid time is of the essence, and it’s a luxury you can’t afford Captain Sibiya. I want my brother out of jail right now, so don’t tell me about your garbage paperwork.”

While the Captain was busy speaking to John on the phone, his wife and daughter, to his pleasant surprise, entered the police station.

“Daddy!” shouted the captain’s daughter. Captain Sibiya could not believe his eyes.

“Why do you look surprised Victor?” asked Mrs Sibiya, the captain’s wife. “What’s wrong my husband? You look terrified,” she continued.

The Captain looked at his wife and daughter with tears slowly rolling down his face. He was in disbelief. John could hear the conversation between the Captain and his family on the other side of the call, and when he realised that he and his group of gunmen were in the wrong house, holding the wrong family hostage, he quickly hung up the call in disappointment.

“Captain Sibiya!” one of the police officers shouted. “What did the man on the phone want from you?”

“He was nobody, don’t worry about it,” Captain Sibiya said, hugging his wife and daughter.

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