Criminals impersonating policemen on a crime spree against foreign vacationers

WHITE RIVER – Tom Vorster, spokesperson of Kruger Lowveld Tourism (KLCBT), confirmed that that their victim support members are providing aid to the victims.

“The KLCBT aftercare programme people are with the Brazilians at this moment at White River Police Station, assisting them with their statements,” he said on Wednesday.

On November 30, Lowvelder reported that police were baffled as to how criminals always seem to know that a certain vehicle is driven by a tourist.

“How do they source this information?” SAPS spokesperson, Brig Leonard Hlathi said. “It has become evident there is a syndicate operating in the Lowveld region orchestrating these robberies.”

This after a German couple was robbed on their way to Graskop on November 25.

In the past months there has been a wave of attacks on tourists in the region.

ALSO READ: Swiss tourists attacked outside White River

“AfriForum’s White River neighbourhood watch found the shaken tourists travelling on foot at approximately 23:30, after they were held hostage by their assailants for hours before being abandoned in the bush in a nearby plantation on the Spioenkop Road,” said Johan Pelser, the chairperson of AfriForum’s White River neighbourhood watch.

According to a statement by the district coordinator for AfriForum Lowveld, Hennie Bekker, the two Brazilian men and one woman, in their 20s, were forced off the road by an unknown silver vehicle on the R538.

“Their rental vehicle was approached by two armed suspects, who wore police reflective jackets. The assailants ordered the tourists to move over to the back seat, while demanding their debit and credit cards and banking details.”

“The criminals verified their pin numbers through a speedpoint machine. The suspects also demanded that the victims hand over all their valuables,” Bekker said.

Bekker stated that members of Afriforum’s neighbourhood watch were immediately notified of the incident and mobilised to search for the suspects as well as the missing vehicle.

ALSO READ: Tourists marked by organised crooks

Shortly thereafter the hijacked Toyota Corolla was found deserted in the bush by members of AfriForum’s neighbourhood watch.

“The tourists were extremely traumatised by the series of unfortunate events. We assisted in calming them down by allowing them to call their families overseas and banking institutions in order to stop their cards. I offered them accommodation and assistance in reporting the matter to the police,” explained Dawie Ruthven of AfriForum’s White River neighbourhood watch.

“This incident follows numerous warnings issued to tourism institutions to be vigilant against criminal activities and to not go out at night. Similar incidents were reported these past 30 days,” Pelser said.

Col Donald Mdluli, the provincial police spokesperson, confirmed that a case of carjacking was registered with the police. “We tried to get as much information as possible from the tourists in order to thoroughly investigate the case. We are looking for these suspects who took the foreign vacationers by surprise.”