Posted on 05/15/2007 9:37:29 AM PDT by kiriath_jearim
Cape Town - "He did it for me and the family. I could see the anxious look in his eyes as he indicated to me to move away," said Michelle Tissong, whose husband was in court, charged with the murder of an alleged intruder in their house.
An emotional Michelle said in Wyburg Magistrate's Court on Monday: "I don't think it's fair that he's being called a murderer now."
Aldred Morton Tissong, 39, was appearing on a charge of murder after shooting two suspected robbers in his home on Friday morning.
Tissong, a father of two, was charged on Monday with the murder of Kenneth Samuels, 36, and the attempted murder of an unnamed accomplice, who was critically wounded.
Police spokesperson Siphokazi Mawisa said the two men apparently burst into Tissong's house in Third Avenue, Lotus River, with a firearm, and threatened him and his wife.
'Tired and traumatised
Tissong struggled with the men and shots were fired.
She said Tissong found out after the shooting that it was his own licensed firearm that he had reported as stolen to the police in December.
Michelle said on Monday: "We're afraid, things are going very badly.
"My husband's health is not good at all. He's tired and traumatised. I'll get our pastor to come and speak to him tonight."
Tissong, a panel-beater by trade, stood in the dock clutching a copy of the book, The Transformer. He was allowed out on R1 000 bail.
The court heard that the two men went to Tissong's house, presumably with the intention of breaking and entering.
Tissong did not have any previous convictions, and there were no cases pending against him.
Judy Bassingthwaighte, national director of Gun Free South Africa, said a firearm usually complicated matters even more.
"There's also the emotional suffering that Tissong will be going through because he presumably took a life.
"It's dangerous to own a firearm and we must ask ourselves if it's worth it."
Dr Johan Burger, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies said the fact that a murder dossier had been opened on Tissong, did not mean that he would be charged with murder.
"The Director of Public Prosecutions must decide whether or not he is to be charged with murder.
"There'll have to be an investigation in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act to see if his actions were justified, if he acted out of self-defence, and if it was not, perhaps, an accident.
'Should get himself a lawyer'
He said that the case would have to be fully investigated. If the Director of Public Prosecutions found that neither Tissong nor his wife were in mortal danger, Tissong could be charged with murder.
"The best that the accused can do is to get himself a lawyer as soon as possible, so that he does not say something that can be used against him at a later stage."
The case has been postponed until August 13 for further investigation.
“He said that the case would have to be fully investigated. If the Director of Public Prosecutions found that neither Tissong nor his wife were in mortal danger, Tissong could be charged with murder.”
When two armed thugs break into your home, what exactly in South Africa constitutes mortal danger?
“Judy Bassingthwaighte, national director of Gun Free South Africa, said a firearm usually complicated matters even more”.
(Yeah. He should’ve cowered and hoped for the best.)
“There’s also the emotional suffering that Tissong will be going through because he presumably took a life.
(Not as much “suffering” as would’ve happened if say, oh, his wife were murdered!!)
“It’s dangerous to own a firearm and we must ask ourselves if it’s worth it.”
(Yes it is! Some human beings find it necessary to protect their own lives!)
Not nearly as dangerous as leaving yourself and your family defenseless against two armed criminals that break into your house
I think SA is the rape capital of the world. Mortal danger occurred when the perps entered the home. I doubt the homeowner will come out on top in a PC nightmare like SA.
Considering that South Africa has spiraled downward into the Third World since Mandela’s ANC goons took over, and that Johannesburg is probably the most dangerous city in the world outside of Iraq right now? You’d be nuts to live there and NOT own a firearm, or several.
}:-)4
Apartheid reparations, don't you know?
Mortal danger is probably defined as the time between when the thugs fired the gun and you got hit. During that time it would be okay to respond.
Judy Bassingthwaighte should be dragged by her hair into the street, beaten with rubber hoses and then tarred and feathered.
Maybe then the lights would come on in her idiot head.
Criminal unable to ply chosen trade. Worth it!
Why is this man on trial?
I think because he is white, although the story doesnt mention it.
Cant have a white man defending his property and his wife against two blacks in Africa,now can we?
Evidently this is the second time around for these thieves as the way I read the story they broke into his home carrying a weapon they had stolen from him previously.
The weapon was mentioned as being stolen from him previously. Now I dont know the laws there but it could be he had reported it stolen so they wouldnt confiscate it.
This is exactly the same kind of BS that would be happening in this country if the libs and other gun sissies had their way. It is much better to whine and cry about being a victim than it is to protect yourself. I would wish that all those that are of the mind that they need to be protected have the opportunity to be that victim they so want to be.
Even in South Africa, a nation over-run with rape and murder, you still have idiots like this.....
Even the libs in this country would say ,”just because 2 armed thugs entered your house,that was no reason to kill them”.....ESPECIALLY IF THE THUGS WERE NOT WHITE!!!!!
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