Provincial commissioner of police in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has warned community members, particularly social clubs or stokvels against carrying large amounts of money, as they can be targeted by criminals and robbed.
The appeal was made by the provincial police commissioner following a house robbery incident on Monday night.
“A 54-year-old female victim fell victim to a house robbery involving a social club money at Strydkraal Block A village under the Sekhukhune district on Monday, December 9 2024 at about 10pm,” provincial police spokesperson, Colonel Malesela Ledwaba narrated.
He said preliminary investigations revealed that members of a local social club held a meeting at the victim's residence to discuss how they are going to distribute the money they had saved. That meeting started at around 3pm.
“The meeting concluded at approximately 7pm and the members of the social club departed to their homes and left the victim with her teenage daughter,” said Ledwaba.
“At about 10pm, three unknown male suspects instantly broke into her house and robbed a substantial amount of cash belonging to the social club and later locked the two victims inside one of the bedrooms before fleeing the scene on foot.”
The traumatized mother and daughter were later rescued by a relative. The matter was then reported to the police.
A case of house robbery has been opened following the incident. Police have also launched a manhunt of the three robbers and are requesting community members to help with relevant information.
“Anyone with information that can assist with their apprehension is encouraged to contact the investigating officer, Captain Michael Thobejane on 082 414 2415, Crime Stop number 08600 10111, nearest police station or My SAPS App,” the police appealed.
In February, IOL also reported that police at Hlogotlou, in Limpopo’s Sekhukhune district, launched a manhunt for people who robbed a group of stokvel members of “a substantial amount of money” during the group’s gathering to collect monthly contributions.
At the time, Ledwaba said the stokvel members met and made their monthly contributions at the house of one of the members on a Saturday.
“They were accosted by three armed suspects who then robbed them of all the money. The suspects also robbed another victim of cash and fled the scene,” said Ledwaba.
A case of house robbery was then opened.
IOL