Lowveld blue-light robberies: Another victim falls prey

With a gun held to her head during yet another blue-light robbery incident near Riverside on the night of February 6, a woman was intstructed to co-operate or she would be killed.

The woman, who wished not to be named following the fear and trauma caused by her ordeal, had been on her way back from visiting a friend in hospital when the incident occurred. She lives in eSwatini, but was visiting a friend who had been admitted to a hospital in Mbombela for surgery.

She was driving back to her accommodation for the night when a white VW Polo with flashing blue lights and four occupants tried to stop her at a traffic light on the R40 in the Riverside area.

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This is the latest blue-light robbery incident to be reported to Lowvelder. Five others occurred in the Lowveld between December 8 last year and January 25. The woman had been driving an SUV.

“After being followed for some time with the flashing blue lights behind me, the passenger of the VW jumped out of the car, pointed a pistol at me and demanded that I open my door,” she said.

“He then told me to move over and he jumped into the driver seat, shoving me into the passenger seat.”

She said a second man then pushed her from the passenger seat to the back of the car, where a third man was already sitting. She said the man next to her in the back seat told her to put her head down and keep it down.

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“One of the occupants put a pistol to my head and told me that if I do not co-operate, they would shoot me. The man next to me then told me that if I did not co-operate, they would rape me.”

The woman said the fourth man followed the SUV in the VW.

“They drove around with me for some time. They were asking me for money and drugs. They went through my handbag and took all the money I had on me. They stopped at an unknown destination, covered my head and put me into another car for some time.

“I could just hear them talking at that time. Then the one accomplice came to fetch me and put me back into my car in the backseat, and he came and sat next to me. The other two accomplices got into the car and we drove off again.”

She said the three were talking among themselves, but she did not understand what they were saying. She said at one point, one of the men told her that he did not want to kill her, because he was tired of killing people.

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“After driving around for about 30 minutes, I was asked where I had been heading to, and I told them. One of them put my destination in on my GPS. Then the car stopped. I was told to get out, get into the driver seat and drive straight home, and I was told not to report this to the police.”

The woman said she was severely traumatised by the incident and reported the matter to the police on February 7. She said she was disappointed in the way the matter was being handled, and felt it was not being dealt with as a matter of urgency and importance, especially since this incident was the sixth of its kind in the last few months.

She appealed to the public to try and avoid travelling at night and alone, as far as possible, and hopes that the men responsible will be caught soon.

A provincial police spokesperson, Captain Magonseni Nkosi, said the investigation is ongoing. He said surveillance footage from the area where the kidnapping occurred has been requested from the company in charge of it. “We are waiting for the footage. The investigating officer is working very hard on the case.”

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Previous incidents:
1. On December 8, a man’s vehicle was shot at at least eight times by suspects in a vehicle with blue lights while he was driving near Matsulu on the N4. The suspects were driving a silver Polo. He managed to escape.

2. On January 6, five people, including four North American citizens, were robbed at gunpoint, kidnapped and held hostage for about four hours. They were stopped by a vehicle with flashing blue lights near the Mbombela High Court.

3. On January 8, a couple from the Netherlands was stopped, robbed and kidnapped in Albatross Street in Hazyview by suspects in a white double-cab bakkie with flashing blue lights.

4. On January 10, three Mozambican nationals were kidnapped and robbed at gunpoint near the Grove Shopping Centre in a blue-light robbery. The suspects were in a white double-cab bakkie.

5. On January 25, a Mozambican man, Paul del Ré, sustained a gunshot wound to his left leg when he and his companion were chased by a VW Polo with blue lights from i’langa Mall to near Sonpark.

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Communities are urged to adhere to the following guidelines:
• Do not stop if you suspect you might be stopped by bogus police officers.
• Drive to the nearest police station, shopping complex or any other busy area when you are stopped by an unmarked vehicle fitted with blue lights.
• Do not stop at a deserted spot or area to talk on your phone or to relieve yourself.
• If someone tries to force you off the road, don’t panic. Constantly hoot to draw attention.

“You have the right to request a police officer who is not in uniform and in an unmarked vehicle to identify themselves by producing their SAPS appointment card that will display their rank, date of service and a picture of them on it,” Brigadier Athlenda Mathe previously told Lowvelder.

If you have experienced a blue-light robbery between December last year to date, please email chelsea@lowvelder.co.za.