The Order of the Baobab in Silver

Vincent Naidoo Awarded for:

His outstanding courage in fighting crime in Mitchells Plain and for sacrificing his life for the safety of his community.

Profile of Vincent Naidoo

Vincent Naidoo was a well-respected member of his community; a husband, father, street committee member and dedicated crime fighter who, at only 47 years old, was callously gunned down while manning a bonfire outside a drug merchant’s house in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, in the Western Cape. He paid the highest price for the protection of the constitutional rights of everybody to live, work and play in a safe environment.

Despite being bound to a wheelchair, Naidoo was committed to policing the very streets where criminals ran riot. His death was untimely, but his message to the people of Mitchells Plain was timely.

Perhaps in his honour and of those before him, there are reports of great successes being made by the Mitchells Plain police, in partnership with the community, against drug lords and gangsters. Confiscation of illegal drugs and arrests take place with valuable information obtained from the community. Naidoo had the burning desire and passion in his heart to confront these horrible things that in his life and his community made people so callous as to take the life of another in glorification and pursuit of social ills.

The death of Vincent Naidoo was not in vain. It inspired Mitchells Plain’s residents to turn up the heat against gangs, drugs and their destructive influence on society. Like many other fallen heroes before him, he paid the ultimate price when his life was cut short by those elements that sought to destroy our communities. He was committed to fighting crime and making his community safe.

He would work with his fellow committee members from 21:00 in the evening till 4:00 in the morning, winter or summer, making sure that the streets of Westridge in particular were safe. He embodied the fighting spirit until the end.