The central business areas of Thohoyandou, Louis Trichardt, and Shayandima have become fertile hunting grounds for scammers who use age-old tricks to rob their victims of their hard-earned cash.
In one of the latest incidents, a pensioner was robbed of his bank card and R350 in cash at Shayandima P&L Complex. Thanks to the efforts of an observant bystander, he did not lose more money. The bystander realised what was happening and confronted the scammers. Police nearby were alerted and arrested three men. Two of the men were later freed because of a lack of evidence linking them to the case. The incident occurred on Thursday, 23 May.
In another incident, Gogo Rilisa Shidzinga was not so lucky. When she left her home at Ribungwani on Friday, 24 May, for Louis Trichardt, she had one thought: to buy food for her family. She headed for the town, where she withdrew R1,000 for groceries, but she never bought the groceries. She was scammed by "muti" scammers who left her with an envelope full of worthless newspaper cuttings.
"I still cannot believe it happened to me. I have handled large amounts of cash but never been robbed. I had just withdrawn R1,000 from one of the ATMs when an unknown man touched me on the shoulder. Before I could walk a distance, I met a woman who told me muti was smeared on me and that she suffered the same fate," said Ms Shidzinga.
The unknown woman told her that they should follow the man who had smeared the muti on her. "We got into a parked car, and I was told to hand over my cash for it not to disappear as a result of the muti. The money was put in an envelope, and before I realised it, the envelope was swapped and I was handed another one when I alighted from the car," she said.
Shidzinga said that only when she opened the envelope to buy some salt did she realise the envelope was filled with worthless pieces of newspaper. "I am still in shock and strongly believe they cast a spell on me. Everything happened so fast, and there was no time for reasoning. I have learnt a bad lesson and I advise others not to trust strangers. Do not accept help from people you do not know as you might end up paying dearly like I did," Shidzinga said.
Vhembe SAPS spokesperson W/O Vuledzani Dathi confirmed the Shayandima incident, saying a 58-year-old man had been robbed at Shayandima. "We can confirm that a 47-year-old man was arrested in connection with the Shayandima incident. The man will appear in court soon," he said.