The ‘Cabbage Bandit’ is off the hook, but says he and his family need time to process the trauma. Metro police had pressed charges against Djo BaNkuna for planting vegetables on his pavement, instead of grass, trees and flowers.
The withdrawal of the case against Djo BaNkuna comes after
threats and eventually the
unleashing of the wrath of the law on the Pretoria resident who grows vegetables on his pavement instead of beautifying it with flowers, lawn or trees.
On 14 September, the Tshwane metro police served BaNkuna with notice over his use of municipal property to grow vegetables. BaNkuna was given two options: Either he appeared in the Wonderboom Municipal Court on 23 November 2021, or he pay a fine of R1,500.
On
30 September 2021, the metro police department dropped charges that he allegedly intentionally interfered with municipal property, but he still faced a traffic fine.
“There is no crime that BaNkuna committed. All he committed is an offence in terms of the Road Traffic Act which we issued him a fine that he can either pay within 30 days and get 50% discount off or contest the fine in court,” said Tshwane metro police spokesperson Isaac Mahamba.
BaNkuna refused to pay the fine and intended to challenge the matter in court.
BaNkuna posted on his
Facebook page today: