Ex-cop referred to Fort England after assault

A former police officer who would often wake up during the night and open all the windows and doors of his Gompo home before moving the furniture around – and would assault his wife and step-daughter if they tried to intervene – was sent for psychiatric evaluation by the East London Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Luyanda Mondi, 53, who told the court during his bail application hearing that he had 48 wives and 73 children “scattered” across Alice, East London and Johannesburg, was arrested last month.

Mondi’s arrest came after he contravened a protection order by assaulting his wife and 14year-old step-daughter on June 22.

The order he contravened was granted less than 24 hours before the June 22 midnight assault incident.

Instead of granting him bail, magistrate Joel Cesar sent him to the Fort England Psychiatric Hospital in Grahamstown (Makhanda), for observation.

Passing judgment yesterday, Cesar said the wife and her daughter were left “traumatised” by the man’s “strange actions”.

He said they “feared for their lives” after his mental condition apparently worsened between April and June.

Cesar said the wife had told court when she testified last week that the husband “was fine all along” until April.

She also told the court that her husband posed a danger to himself and the family, and that she did not want him released from police custody until he had received medical attention.

He said the wife had also testified that on May 29 her husband was admitted to Cecilia Makiwane Hospital (CMH) where he underwent psychiatric evaluation and was found to be “unwell”. Yesterday a letter from the doctor who examined him at CMH was presented in court, revealing that he was unwell and needed attention.

Cesar said the wife was given the protection order on June 21, but just after midnight he again assaulted them both and was arrested for contravening the order.

Cesar ordered Mondi to be kept in a prison hospital until accommodation could be found for him in Fort England.

He is due in court again on July 27, when a date for his admission at the hospital is meant to be communicated.