Spirit of giving still alive

Cape Town - 090127 - At Khayelitsha's Nonceba Hall on National Police Day there was a meeting to help organize how local organizations could assist the police in dealing with community issues. Photo by Skyler Reid.

Cape Town - 090127 - At Khayelitsha's Nonceba Hall on National Police Day there was a meeting to help organize how local organizations could assist the police in dealing with community issues. Photo by Skyler Reid.

Published Sep 1, 2012

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Durban - The power of social media and the willingness of residents to help people saw a Pinetown policeman back on the road in no time on Friday..

Andreas Mathios, of Pro-Act Neighbourhood Watch, said a police officer, Warrant Officer Ryan Charlton, drove past him in the traffic and he could hear a terrible noise.

Realising it was the police vehicle, Mathios pulled up next to him at the robots and asked if he realised the CV joint was damaged.

“It’s extremely dangerous to drive with a damaged CV joint.

The officer said he had heard the noise, but he was on standby for the weekend and he had a lot of work to get done.

“We partner with our police and know how stressful their job is,” said Mathios.

Although it was nearly the end of the business day, Mathios told the police officer to follow him to the CV Joint Specialists in Pinetown.

“To fix the CV joint was R1 000, so I put a message out on Facebook and BBM that we needed to help this officer. Within half an hour, residents had come back with their cash and support and the vehicle was fixed,” he said.

Warrant Officer Charlton said he would like to thank the residents, as it was too late on a Friday afternoon for him to get the vehicle fixed through official channels. “It is very helpful, especially as I’m working this weekend.” - Independent on Saturday

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