By Abdool A. Aziz

BOYSIE was labelled a ‘thief man’. He loved to steal his neighbours’ fruits and vegetables, now and then a few fowls or ducks. He could not find a paying job so he turned to stealing to support his impoverished family. His father died by accident when he was eight. His modus operandi was that he stole from the rich to help the poor, like Robin Hood. He was often caught, beaten and even jailed. But this did not stop his criminal behaviour. The magistrate deemed him a kleptomaniac (someone addicted to stealing) and sentenced him to do time. The time in the rehabilitation facility did him good. He learned to farm.
On his release, as a teenager, he leased his neighbour’s back-yard and began a farm. But the police was always ‘on his back’. Stealing was still going on. But he was innocent. He was a known thief and now he was made a scapegoat. The frequent lock-ups and police brutality forced him to take matters into his own hands. He must find the culprit. So he went undercover.

Each night he staked out the rich man’s poultry run. He got lucky. He caught the thief and to his shock, it was the owner’s son. The bandit tried to bribe his captor but Boysie didn’t fall for it. He tried to fight off Boysie but to no avail. He had had enough of this criminal. No one could believe Mr Singh’s own flesh and blood would do this heinous act. He was stealing from his father and selling to illegal butchers and wasting the money on drinks and women. He ended up in jail and the stealing stopped.
The very community that castigated him now praised him as a hero. They all bought his garden products and the lessor scrapped the lease. Boysie could now plant and reap freely. Even the police made this youngster an ‘Honourable Constable’. But the best was yet to come. Mr Singh presented Boysie with a pair of mating sheep. That ram and ewe multiplied and a flock grew. Now Boysie was a shepherd.

No one is born a criminal. Sometimes circumstances dictate acts inimical to a good life but people can change from bad to good. Give them a chance. They deemed him a black sheep but he possessed a hidden white shriek that came to light. There is good in all of us. The boys’ school of 1959 brought out the good side of Boysie. Though he paid his debt to society he compensated those he stole from to feed the poor. ‘Label me bad. But I know I’m good.’

Help to bring out the good in others.
Boysie, my neighbour and former tenant.