Builder who promised a hall sits in jail

Residents from Tsaba Village in Tsholomnqa near East London have been waiting for Warren Isaacs to deliver on his June promise of building them a community hall.

However, Isaacs, co-accused Alpercino “Cino” Shearer and Shirley Gunuza, have been in custody since his arrest in July for conspiracy to commit robbery and attempted robbery.

The villagers first met Isaacs and Shearer in June this year when Isaacs volunteered to build the hall after reading a Daily Dispatch article highlighting the community’s frustration over the lack of such a facility.

Isaacs also promised villagers temporary jobs during the construction of the project.

Community leader Bonisile Dyani said they had decided to raise funds and build the hall themselves.

“We have been writing letters to get help with this hall since 2011.”

He said before Isaacs and Shearer came to their village, the residents were in the process of rebuilding the hall from their own pockets.

“Most of the people here are unemployed and families rely on grants. We just asked everyone to contribute whatever amount they could afford to build our own hall and we bought the material and paid the builder a stipend. Some of the community members volunteered to help build.”

However, at the halfway point, the building was destroyed by a hailstorm.

“We wrote to various media organisations so people could see our pain. Then Mr Isaacs and Cino came and promised to build the hall. I was so happy I even cried on that day. He [Isaacs] told us he was touched by our story. What we were even happier about it was when he said he was going to use the unemployed people in our village and promised them a stipend during the construction of the hall.”

Isaacs instructed the community to establish a committee which would oversee the construction of the hall.

Dyani said: “The whole village was here to witness that. The elderly and youth were all excited with what he promised. And he left us saying he was going to finalise how the hall would be built.”

A committee was set up. However, numerous calls to Isaacs were futile. “We organised everyone to meet him again and he did not pitch up. We even thought maybe he could not find directions to our area. I called again after a few days and I was told that he was in Tanzania and was on his flight back home.”

After several calls and a text message, Dyani finally received a reply, saying Isaacs was in Gauteng on another development project .

Meanwhile, Isaacs was inside West Bank Prison.

Then the community’s dreams of the Good Samaritan building them the hall were dashed when they learnt of Isaacs’ incarceration.

“We were all so shocked when we read in the Dispatch that he had been arrested. We really thought he wanted to help us but we do not want to comment on any of the alleged crimes he is accused of doing. We will just continue doing what we were doing before he came.”

The residents had a meeting on Thursday last week.

“We will try and raise funds from our own pockets again because we are really struggling without a community hall.”

Once completed, the hall will be used for funerals, community meetings and other gatherings..

Isaacs, Shearer and Gunuza due back in court on September 25.