The police in Makhado are currently investigating two cases of theft committed in the area of ABSA Bank situated on the corner of Songozwi and Krogh Street.

According to Inspector Nelwamato Vele, spokesperson for the local SAPS, bank customers were robbed exiting the bank after withdrawing money.

The first incident took place on March 20 when an amount of R50 000 was stolen from a 73-year-old man. The man was exiting the bank when he was approached by a man who told him someone had rubbed medicine on his arm and that it had to be washed off immediately. The unknown man told the victim to follow him, so that it could be washed off. The victim followed the man to a toilet near the taxi rank in Burger Street. The victim left the briefcase filled with money outside the toilet with the unknown man and went to wash his arm with water. When he came out, his briefcase with the money and the man who had escorted him were gone.

The second robbery was committed on March 31 when a 60-year-old woman was robbed. Two men approached the unsuspecting victim as she came out of the bank. They told her that they were concerned police officers. They again used the story of the medicine having been rubbed on her arm. The victim followed the two men to a parked car. As they were approaching the car, a third man was sitting in the driver’s seat, waiting for them to get in. The three men convinced her to get into the car with them and drove off to Polokwane, where they stopped at the ABSA Branch there. The victim was forced to withdraw an amount of R35 000 and give it to the suspects with the R1 000 she had withdrawn earlier from the ABSA branch in Makhado. The three men gave the confused victim an amount of R25 for transport back to Makhado.

Inspector Vele warned that residents should be more careful and be more vigilant when exiting banks after withdrawing money. He also asked community members to assist the police by taking the full details of any employees when they are hired. According to Vele, their job as police would be much easier when they can track a suspect from the details given to them by the employees. He also mentioned a case where the police are currently struggling to find a rapist because the former employers failed to get the suspects’ full details and now his whereabouts are unknown.