AN SPCA inspector who rescued a snake in Gugulethu was held hostage by a mob who wanted him to release the reptile so they could kill it.

Benson Kotsie was called to NY111 on Saturday following a complaint that a snake was in a Wendy house. He found it was a harmless mole snake.

He said he struggled for about an hour to catch the two-metre black snake, which slithered out of a wardrobe and into the ceiling. He finally caught it using special hand-activated pincers used to catch snakes.

Meanwhile, a crowd was swelling outside and trouble began after he placed the snake in a drum.

"I was confronted by a mob of about 50 or more people with rocks, bricks and sticks demanding that I should release the snake on the street so they could kill it," Kotsie said.

When he told them he had come to rescue the snake and was to release it in the wild, the mob threatened to harm him and the snake.

"For about an hour I argued with the crowd. They said a snake was an evil thing and a sign of witchcraft. One man said I should pay R100 for permission to take the snake with me."

Kotsie's pleas that a mole snake was not dangerous fell on deaf ears.

The crowd, shouting for the snake to be killed, were finally brought under control when the police arrived.

"Only then was I allowed to leave. I took the snake to the Rondevlei Nature Reserve," Kotsie said.

A conservation inspector for more than 10 years, he had often encountered incidents in which people did not understand wildlife, he said.

"They clearly did not know anything about snakes and refused to listen to reason. I told them the snake was not a threat, but they said it was put there by someone with an evil spirit."

Kotsie said communities often placed different meanings on the presence of wildlife in their midst.