The 75-year-old Randhart resident is in despair after being deceived by an alleged bogus spiritual healer who reportedly stole R5 000 from him.
According to Gerrie, he saw an advert which advertised the services offered by a bogus healer named ‘Abu’.
Among many other services, ‘Abu’s’ advert stated that he could bring back lost partners, lost or stolen property and assist with financial problems.
“After seeing the advert I thought to myself let me find my bike and my two gates. I contacted him and he gave me an address in Alberton North where we would meet. “He told me to bring all my money because my ex-wife had won a lot of money and that I was entitled to that money,” he said.
Marx told the RECORD that he was then advised to come with any amount of money he could afford in order to return his stolen belongings.
“I told him I was more interested in returning my things back, particularly my gates because they no longer make those gates. Initially, he told me to bring R50 000 but I told him I only had R5 000 in my account. The stolen bicycles and two gates were worth way less than R50 000 he first asked for,” he said.
Deceit
Upon his return the next day, Marx’s hard-earned money was then stolen and he was made to believe that his money was taken by spirits.
“He asked me to put my money in some bag and place it at a corner and the bag was covered with grass. He then switched off the lights and he said he would pray to the spirits to help me. While sitting there, he pretentiously started praying, he had somebody hide in that room,” said Marx.
While seated, to his surprise, he heard a person uttering in deceit, pretending to be a spirit.
“The person started saying words like, ‘My son do not be scared we want R10 000. I eventually started noticing and asking questions, I stood up and demanded my money back. He said the spirit had taken my money and it will help me,” he said.
After weeks of not seeing any difference, Marx started questioning the truthfulness of the supposed spiritual healer. After many failed attempts to get his money back the said spiritual healer then took him from pillar to post.
After repeatedly asking for his money back he told him that he needed to transfer another R1 500 for the spirits to release his R5 000, which he did not.
Marx is warning the public to be wary of such alleged bogus spiritual healers who deceive people into thinking they would assist them.
After many failed attempts, the RECORD was not able to reach the spiritual healer for comment.
Capt Manare Ramotshela, spokesperson for Alberton SAPS, condemned the incident and confirmed that this was a civil matter.
