MNQUMA Hawkers Association is at war with thugs in the Butterworth CBD.
The association was formed last year by hawkers who sell in the CBD.
The hawkers formed the association to fight crime that was affecting their business.
A hawker on every street corner in town is armed with a whistle.
They blow the whistle if they see a crime in progress.
A cellphone thief had allegedly been targeting pupils and stealing their phones.
Thanks to the whistle- blowing initiative, the suspect was arrested on Wednesday.
The association’s spokesman, Bathabile Pikela, said they are happy the man was arrested.
“We have been trying to get this guy for over three months.
“We even went to his home several times. But we never caught him. After we caught him, we went to Butterworth High School with him. Kids told us that this guy was the one who stole their cellphones.”
The suspect admitted that he had stolen the phones.
He said he sold more than eight phones to various shops around the CBD.
“We went to those shops where owners promised to pay back the amount the cellphones cost,” said Pikela.
One pupil from Butterworth High School said: “At the beginning of the year, this man took my cellphone. He came to me and asked me to push his car. On the road, he kept saying turn here, turn there and turn here. After a while, we found ourselves in an isolated place where he robbed me of my cellphone.”
Police spokesman Captain Jackson Manatha said a man was arrested for cellphone theft.
