Durban - A Merebank couple accused by residents of being drug dealers have gone into hiding after a large mob tried to attack them at their home on Friday, and torched three of their vehicles.
Trevor and Charmaine Moodley have left their three children in the care of their grandmother and sought refuge at an undisclosed location.
The Moodleys told the Daily News yesterday that they feared for their family’s safety.
Trevor Moodley said he was being unfairly accused by some residents of ordering a hit on a local teenager, Reldon Reddy.
A relative of Reddy’s said the 19-year-old had been expected to appear in court on March 19 for possessing drugs.
Reddy was shot dead on Wednesday. He was buried yesterday.
Police spokesman, Captain Thulani Zwan, said an 18-year-old suspect had been arrested in connection with Reddy’s murder and would appear in the Wentworth Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
A relative of the slain teen, who requested anonymity, said the family had been told that Reddy had been shot by a friend, because he had “turned against” others who were allegedly involved in the local drug trade.
When a Daily News team visited the block of flats, Beverly Hills, yesterday, a group of residents, some of whom were drinking, said that if the Moodleys returned, they would be killed.
They claimed Moodley had been dealing in drugs for years and that he had been using boys as his pushers, including Reddy.
Moodley denied all the claims last night, calling them “lies”. He said he would not have hurt Reddy, because he looked after him “like a son”.
“I was not there when it (the shooting) happened,” he said.
Moodley’s mother, Pushpakanthi Govender, who lives in the same block, said she was terrified after the attack.
Standing in the parking lot where the cars were torched, she said a mob had gathered on Friday night.
She said the mob threw rocks at her windows and banged the cars with their hands and sticks.
She said children were also present and the mob had became unruly.
At one point, people turned on the police, before pouring petrol on the cars and setting them alight.
“The police did nothing. They just folded their arms,” she claimed. “They didn’t even have tear gas or rubber bullets to threaten them.”
Zwane said police were investigating a case of arson and public violence, and no arrests had been made.
“The allegations that the police did nothing to stop the community are unfounded.”
Govender said it was not safe at the flats, and she wanted police to reassure her that the mob would not return.
Charmaine said it made “no sense” for the community to blame her husband for Reddy’s death, explaining that police ballistic and fingerprint tests would show he was not the killer.
“If police punch in my name and my husband’s name into their system, no drug charges against us will show up,” she said. “We are not convicted drug dealers.”
She said she knew Reddy and his friend very well, adding that they were like sons to her and her husband.
“These boys would eat, sleep and bath at my house. Even when we went to parties, they were with me,” Charmaine said.
She said the mob had made its way to her flat on Friday night after a community meeting, to which she had not been invited.
“Stones were thrown at my house and I phoned the police,” she said.
“And when they were there, this still carried on so I called the Durban flying squad because I could see that police were not able to handle the angry mob.”
Charmaine said the mob had been shouting “Burn their house, burn their cars” in front of police, who did nothing to disperse the crowd.
She said she now felt “like a criminal” on the run. One of the vehicles torched was a van she used to run her business, selling toilet paper and eggs, she said. “I can’t keep booking in and out of places with money that I don’t have, I have no place to go,” she said.
Charmaine said she and her husband had received threatening SMSes warning they were going to be killed if they returned to their flat.
Daily News