Wrestler gets bail on assault charges
Group of men lay charge against Daryl ‘Nightmare’ Naidu, writes Nabeelah Shaikh Durbanite organises beach clean-up after New Year
APOPULAR Durban wrestler and community activist spent Thursday night in Westville prison after he was arrested for allegedly assaulting and pointing a firearm at a group of men in the early hours of the new year.
Daryl “Nightmare” Naidu was released on R1 000 bail after appearing in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court on Friday morning.
According to the men, Naidu accused them of throwing eggs into his property. They claim that it was just after midnight and they were sitting on a staircase opposite Naidu’s home when the incident occurred.
“We had just returned from our church service and we were chilling on the staircase. Out of the blue, Nightmare approached us and began INSTEAD of complaining, a Durban resident took money out of his pocket to clean up a dirty beach after New Year celebrations last Sunday.
In a week that saw South Africans take to social media after Penny Sparrow of Scottburgh labelled black people monkeys who litter and cause discomfort to others at beaches, Sean Madden took a different approach, spending to help overwhelmed municipal workers clean up the beach.
It was a typically hot Durban day when Madden went to Addington Beach at around 10am. He did not expect to find such a mess – the aftermath of a weekend of partying.
Instead of whining, he decided to do something about the litter. He got together a group of six guys who agreed to be paid to help him clean up the beachfront stretch of about 300m.
Christine Stananought, a tourist from Britain who had aggressively asking us who had thrown eggs into his yard.
“We were confused because none of us knew what he was talking about. He had a sjambok in his hand and he began beating us,” said Ashley Thambiran.
He claims that when one of his friends tried to intervene, their worst nightmare was realised when Naidu allegedly pulled out a gun.
Thambiran alleges Naidu was intoxicated, pointed the gun at them and used it to assault them even further. He claims that before pulling out the gun, Naidu said: “You think you’re a gangster? I’ll show you how I start my new year”, and continued beating him up.
“I had deep open wounds on my head because he used the back of the gun to hit me. He also used the sjambok which resulted in deep cuts on my visited Durban more or less every five years since 1991, said she was surprised to see the amount of rubbish at Addington Beach on the day.
She commended Madden for having taken action instead of just complaining.
“I went to Point Road and asked a group of guys who were standing there if they would like to come and work for two hours. I said I would give them each R50. Six of them came back with me to help,” said Madden.
He said the mess at the beach was not good for the city’s image – litter at other times was not as bad as during the holiday season.
“There were all kinds of beverage containers, fireworks and polystyrene on the beachfront. It was ridiculous. We can accept a little litter in the offseason, but it needs to be perfect at holiday time.
“It needs to be clean for tourists so they want to come back in future. Unfortunately that day it didn’t give a good back. My friends also had injuries to their heads and backs,” Thambiran said.
The men were taken to RK Khan Hospital for treatment, and laid a charge with the police afterwards.
But Naidu, who is admired by the Chatsworth community and runs an anti-bullying campaign, tells a different story.
He alleges the men are part of a group of troublemakers who smoke dagga and throw impression,” Madden said.
Madden said he realised a few municipal workers faced a mammoth task a stretch down stones at people’s homes. He said on the night of the incident, they had thrown eggs and stones into his yard, which resulted in a broken window.
“I approached them and asked them who was throwing stuff into my yard. It was a large group of men who sit on the staircase and cause trouble. They smoke dagga and get up to nonsense and I’ve tried to stop them a number of times. When I questioned them, they from uShaka and had to make their way up, passing the Marine Surf Lifesaving Club, which was in a bad condition. became aggressive and threw the first punch,” he said.
He denied having a gun and said that he did not own one. He said that the men were on a campaign to ruin his reputation because of the “good” work he does in the community.
“I am a successful and active member of the community. Everyone knows about the good work that I do. I do not own a gun and even if I did, I would know better than to use it in public. I have laid an assault charge against the men,” he said.
In 2013, Nightmare was nominated for the Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans, which features young stars who are shaping the country’s future.
Police spokeswoman Lieutenant Nqobile Gwala said the motive for the attack was not known. Charges of pointing a firearm and assault had been laid at Chatsworth police station. “A 30-year-old man was arrested. He appeared in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court on January 7.”
They admitted feeling overwhelmed by the amount of litter on the beach when he spoke them, which is when he offered to help.
“I told them it was going to take a lot of time to clean up only a part of the beach, while they had a long stretch to cover. I offered to help with my team of six guys.
“I then told them to come back later to pick up about 40 bags that we filled. We formed a line and cleaned up a stretch of about 300 metres of the beachfront, including the sand dunes,” said Madden.
One of the men, Innocent Ndlovu, said he was happy to help when approached by Madden.
“I was happy to help because I am surviving on piece jobs at the moment and this guy came and offered us R50 each. I also made myself available because I was doing nothing,” he said.
Madden has appealed to beachgoers to use refuse bins because extra bins have been provided to prevent the kind of littering that he witnessed a week ago.