Donation drive: gang initiative brings supplies to North Clyde

Help arrives: The Mongrel Mob's Aotearoa Wairoa chapter president Bronson Tither with his mother Katarena Edwards at Ruataniwha Marae where goods donated by various other chapters of the gang are being sorted for delivery to flood-stricken locals and volunteer workers. Picture by Rebecca Grunwell

A gang leader says many of his associates have suffered huge losses as a result of Cyclone Gabrielle, so standing over people and stealing goods would be the “last thing that's on their minds”.

Bronson Tither is the president or "captain" of the Mongrel Mob's Aotearoa Wairoa chapter. He says the behaviour of some gang members as claimed in national media since the cyclone is “unacceptable”.

“I know the leaders won't be authorising that sort of stuff.”

He said he didn't know the facts but knew that “a lot of people were in a state of panic” after the cyclone and that it “might have been blown out of proportion”. He said he also knew “that if anyone's got a red cap they get labelled as Mongrel Mob, or if anyone's got a blue cap they get labelled as Black Power.”

Mr Tither said a lot of Mongrel Mob members were affected “very badly” at Omahu in Hastings. Some of his close associates lost their houses.

Many Mongrel Mob members whakapapa back to Omahu and had gone there to help with the clean-up.

“Just like here (in Wairoa), that's where all their energy's been going you know ‘cos that's our family that's lost out — huge.

“And I know that's the last thing that's on their mind, going to stand over people.”

Of the allegation in national media that a gang member pulled a gun on a roadside worker, Mr Tither said, “I don't know who it was but at the end of the day that sort of shit is unacceptable.

“I know in my heart that all of us around here and the brothers that I'm close to in the (Hawkes) Bay had no intentions of doing any of that stuff.”

Mr Tither was in Hastings visiting some of his children when the cyclone struck.

Hearing about the devastation that also happened in Wairoa, Mr Tither met with the president of the Barbarians chapter there, who also has strong ties to Wairoa. They called for donations from members of the gang's various chapters and collected them on their way back to Wairoa — a 13-hour trip up the main trunk route, due to road closures.

They arrived at Mr Tither's home marae Ruataniwha, in North Clyde, on Sunday. Mr Tither's mother Katarena Edwards who manages the marae, has been overseeing the sorting of the goods into parcels that have been delivered to flood-affected residents and volunteer workers.

The army added to the supplies yesterday and the marae is now operating as a collection point for locals to get clothes and food and a temporary home for people unable to return to their houses.

Mr Tither said, “There's a lot of damage that's been done out there, a lot of whānau who didn't have homes to go to any more. That's why we wanted to do what we could to alleviate some of that stress.

“My fear was that if people around me didn't get enough food or enough diesel then the stuff that was happening down in the Bay could happen here.”

He said some of his brother members were also manning shovels in Wairoa to help with the clean-up effort.

The goods collected and bought en route for Wairoa all came from donations or fundraising efforts that were well documented on social media, Mr Tither said.

He is open about his past. Jailed for nine years for an aggravated robbery, he served half behind bars and half on parole in the community, which ended last December.

Last year, he ran three courses for at-risk youth in Wairoa focusing on structure, routine, values, and discipline — things he said he only learned himself while incarcerated.

“I was hooked on meth from the age of 17 until I went to jail. As my addiction got worse, so did my actions. I was willing to do anything for it (meth). Me and a group of friends went to home-invade a meth house and it all went horribly wrong. The person who had the meth was a woman. We thought we were going to get in there, demand it, and then get out of there but it turned into her son flying out with a meat cleaver and it just went quite ugly.”

“If I hadn't got that lag I could've killed someone or been killed myself. The lifestyle I was living and the things I was willing to do were light years away from the way that I view life now. I've been drug-free for years, I don't drink alcohol and I don't smoke or anything — I just train (for personal fitness). Because I'm very aware that the path I've chosen and my actions are planting the seeds of the next generation's actions.”

In prison he realised he had ended up exactly where his role models were.

He could see it happening to his little brothers and nephews too and knew that as their role model, he had to change.

He says he got great results working with the youth and hopes to run further programmes, funding permitting.

A father of five, one of the hardest things he's had to do since being in prison is to be “a real dad” again after being an absent one for so long, Mr Tither said. His time in jail had impacted his children's lives too.

“There's a bit of resentment there but there's still a lot of love too,” Mr Tither said.