Heartless thugs have invaded the once peaceful Thohoyandou Town and are preying on unsuspecting victims by allegedly using muti which turns their hard-earned cash into newspaper cuttings!

The latest victim is Joyce Mbedzi (42) of Tshiulungoma whose R1 850 was turned into newspaper cuttings, while her bank card was reduced to an old MTN starter pack. To add more confusion, the thugs also withdrew R1 000 from her account!

Joyce said she felt sick and went to Thohoyandou to see a doctor on Thursday last week. "I then went to the bank and withdrew R1 500, while I had R350 in my pocket. I was walking near the Thohoyandou Police Station when a good-looking man in a black suit approached me from behind and showed me some muti that had been smeared on my shoulder."

Joyce said the man told her that he too had been smeared with the muti, but he managed to see the man who smeared both of them. "He pointed out someone who was running in an easterly direction and said we must follow him because all our money will vanish, including the savings in the bank. Thereafter he said we would not be able to catch up with the suspect and he invited me to his car, a white Golf that we had to use to follow the man. While we were in the car, he pretended to be somebody who was calling the police for assistance. He convinced me that we were following the man until he stopped his car next to the Thohoyandou Spar. He then gave me an old envelope and asked me to put all my cash and bank card in, to stop my money from vanishing."

Joyce further said that the man asked her to get into the shop to buy rough salt, which will be used to stop the money from vanishing. "I went to the shop to buy some salt but when I came back, I found that the white Golf was gone! When I looked at the old envelope, I realized that it contained newspaper cuttings and an old MTN starter pack and all my money was gone! I thought the man was helping me but he was only using his dirty tricks to deceive me."

Joyce added that she experienced more troubles when she rushed to the bank to report her stolen card. "I nearly fainted when the bank staff told me that R1 000 had been withdrawn from my account about ten minutes ago. However, they managed to block the card to avoid further withdrawals. I only heard people talking about the thugs who use muti to cheat people out of their money but I never thought it would happen to me. I will never throw away these newspaper cuttings and I know what I will do with them because I want these thugs to learn a lesson for their lifetime."

The frustrated Joyce claims she was disappointed by the treatment she received from members of the SAPS at Thohoyandou Police Station. "I went there to register a case but they said it would be impossible to assist me because I don’t know the registration number of the white Golf that was used to deceive me. They also said it would be difficult to trace the thugs because I was failing to give a clear description of the old man."

Capt Mashudu Malelo of the Vhembe SAPS said police would investigate if it was true that Joyce was treated shabbily by members of the Thohoyandou SAPS. "If members of the community feel that they are not treated well, they are free to see the station commissioner and register a formal complaint. SAPS services are available to everyone because our duty is to serve and protect the community."

About the thugs who use muti to rob people of their money, Malelo said: "We strongly warn our people to be more careful because these people pretend to be assisting, while they conduct an organized crime syndicate. It is painful to lose your hard-earned cash in this way, especially when Christmas is around the corner. We urge community members to give us more information so that we can arrest these heartless thugs and bring them to book."