Cape Town archbishop tells the church of his pain over his son’s arrest for shoplifting

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The Archbishop of Cape Town has asked Anglicans to pray for his son, after the young man was arrested for shoplifting. 

Nyakallo Masilo Makgoba, a graduate student at the University of Cape Town, appeared before a magistrate in November to answer charges of stealing from a pharmacy in Midrand. The young man presented a prescription to be filled to the pharmacist,  but is alleged to have taken the medication without first paying for the drug. A security camera showed him snipping a cable tie that secured the medication and exiting the pharmacy without paying the cashier. After appearing before a magistrate he was released upon posting a R1000 bail.

Mr. Makgoba was arrested a second time for shoplifting in February. He is alleged to have stolen cheese and a bottle of wine from a Midrand grocery store. In his Lenten letter to the Anglican Church in Southern Africa, the Most Rev. Thabo Makgoba wrote of his pain concerning his son’s actions.

“I don’t usually share personal matters in this space, but please join my intercessors in praying for our son, Nyakallo, who – battling with adjusting to life as an independent adult – misjudged his medical and basic food needs recently to the point where he was detained by police,” he wrote.

The cases are set to be heard by the Midrand magistrates court.