“Police will pay for my pain and embarrassment”

Well-known Tshivenda movie actor Azwidohwi Tshirangwana (46) of Maniini has vowed not to rest until the police compensate him for all the pain and embarrassment he suffered when he was falsely taken into custody by the Thohoyandou police.

Tshirangwana is known as Madovhi in the entertainment industry.

The entertaining actor, who shot to prominence in comedies such as Situations and Mbambe 5, among others, said he was asleep at his home when he heard voices outside. He said it was last Thursday at about 02:00 and when he went to check, he found three police officers who told him they were there to arrest him for crimes he had committed in Thohoyandou.

"I told them I had not committed any crime, but they insisted on taking me away. It was very cold, but I had to oblige and went with them to the Thohoyandou police station, where I was locked in the cells until morning.”

He said he had not officially been arrested, but he had been accused of robbery and theft. “After some time and verifications, I was released with only a sorry from the police. This sounded like an insult to me, especially after spending time in the cold cell," he said.

An angry Tshirangwana said the whole incident had demeaned him and adversely affected his stature in the community. "I am a very renowned person and I make an honest living by selling our movies. All people know me, but since the incident, my fans are now very doubtful of me and look at me with suspicion.”

He said that many of his admirers no longer trusted him and he thought that it would take a long time for him to clear his name. “Wherever I go I must explain that it was just a mistake that I was taken into custody. I am a very peaceful person who will not even hurt a fly. Theft and robbery are far away from me," Tshirangwana said.

He added that the police had made him suffer emotionally by falsely implicating him in crimes he said had not done, and as such he was left with no other option but to take the police involved to task.

"They have to cough up. They have to pay me for the time I spent in their cells. They have to pay for defaming me," he said.

Limpopo police spokesperson Col Moatshe Ngoepe said any person who had complaints about how he was treated by the police could bring them to the Thohoyandou Cluster Commander, Gen Rosina Mulaudzi.

"As police we have an open-door policy. If he feels he was not treated well, there is nothing that could stop him from laying the complaint with the cluster commander," he said.

Date:30 June 2019

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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