'Peacemaker' suffers broken leg in brawl

A GWANDA "peacemaker" had his leg broken after being attacked by an unidentified suspected gold panner who hit him with a brick following a misunderstanding, police confirmed.

Maxwell Ncube sustained serious injuries on his leg when he was assaulted by a rowdy man who pounced on imbibers who were at a bottle store at Phakama Shopping Centre.

The incident happened at around 4PM last Wednesday and Ncube was quickly rushed to Gwanda Provincial Hospital for treatment.

When The Chronicle visited the hospital on Wednesday evening, Ncube was admitted in the casualty ward. He appeared to be in great pain.

Narrating the incident, Ncube said the unidentified man arrived at the bottle store and started harassing people.

"I'd never seen that man before. When he got into the bottle store, he started behaving abnormally, complaining and insulting people for no reason. He even dished out some money to people but his behaviour disturbed our peace.

"We tried to reason with him and to calm him down but it backfired. He ran wild, went outside and picked some bricks which he started throwing  at us.

"In the process, he struck my leg with one of the bricks and I fell to the ground. I couldn't stand as my leg was broken. I'm in so much pain," said Ncube.

He said the suspected gold panner escaped from the  scene soon after committing the crime.

Matabeleland South Provincial police spokesperson Inspector Philisani Ndebele confirmed  the incident. He said the  matter was being handled by the police.

"The suspect is still on the run while Ncube was yesterday transferred to the United  Bulawayo Hospitals," said Insp Ndebele.