Pretoria – Members of a local stokvel, under the Mankweng policing area, were accosted by two armed suspects and robbed of R60 000 cash, which they had gathered to share.
The stokvel team had gathered at the premises of one of their members in Tshware village, at Ga- Mamabolo.
“At about 10.30am, before they could share their monthly contributions, two suspects appeared and ordered everyone to lie down. They then took all the money and before they (assailants) fled the scene, they locked all of them (stokvel members) into one of the rooms,” according to Limpopo police spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba.
Meanwhile, provincial commissioner of police in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has cautioned community members and business owners again, to refrain from carrying large amounts of money, or to share stokvel money in hard cash.
“We often receive reports like this, were stokvel members withdraw large amounts of money and proceed to the house of one of the members to share it, especially during this time of the year. This method obviously attracts criminals,” Hadebe said.
“Stokvel members are advised to make use of electronic funds transfer (EFT) which minimises crimes of this nature.”
Police in Limpopo are requesting anyone with information about the people who robbed the stokvel members to contact investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Samuel Malemela on 076 749 8403, the nearest police station, the Crime Stop number 0860010111 or to use the MySAPS App to report.
In 2017, police in Limpopo urged savings clubs to use electronic bank transfers instead of carrying large amounts of cash for distribution among members. The warning came after stokvel members were robbed of their savings in two separate incidents, at Ga-Seaphole and Mongatane villages.
At the time, Colonel Lieutenant Moatshe Ngoepe said at about 1 pm on a Sunday, a group of 45 women gathered at Ga-Seaphole village outside Tzaneen to share their savings.
“Two armed suspects pounced on them, demanding money and started shooting randomly, injuring one of them. They were robbed of a large amount of money before the suspects fled the scene.”
In Mongatane, outside Burgersfort, a stokvel member was robbed of her share of cash. Criminals broke into her home at about 2am while she was sleeping with her children. They stole cash and cellphones before fleeing.
IOL