CAUGHT STEALING HISTORICAL RECORDS

Earlier this month, a man was caught in a sting operation selling bound volumes of 19th-century issues of The Natal Witness to an antiques dealer. He stole the volumes from the Msunduzi Municipal Library, which is undergoing building renovations. A concerned citizen was browsing through an antique shop when he saw the bound volumes dating from the 1860s to 1890s. He mentioned this to a relative who works at The Witness. Msunduzi librarian John MORRISON visited the antique shop and found that the volumes were from the newspaper collection in the library. The antiques dealer agreed to help set up a sting. He placed an order with the alleged thief, who soon arrived with more volumes. The man is involved with the construction process at the library. A 26-year-old man from Newholmes appeared in Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday charged with theft and possession of stolen property. He was released on bail and the case postponed to July 24. Well done to concerned citizen, whoever you are! About 19 years ago, Pietermaritzburg saw another theft of historical records. A city fireman stole records from the library and tried selling them to a dealer. The dealer alerted the library.

OWNING YOUR STORY

An ex-convict who became a motivational speaker plans to sue the Department of Education and publisher Maskew Miller Longman for breach of privacy after his life story was published in an Afrikaans school textbook without his consent. Jacob MAKGWABA found out about the textbook when a student at Suncrest High School near Vanderbijlpark said she recognised him from his photograph in the Sonder Grense textbook for Grade 12 students. The entry was from an interview he had done with the Sunday Times newspapers in 2005. He was released from in 2005 after serving a 10-year sentence for armed robbery, followed by an 18-month trial period for hijacking, in which the charges were later dropped. He is now an anti-crime motivational speaker and a member of the Evaton Community Policing Forum. The publisher said they obtained the rights to publish the interview from the Sunday Times.