The parents of two teenagers who were robbed on 24 November, by a man who asked them for help at Midrand Mews, expressed their discontent after police failed to open a robbery case without a serial number of the stolen goods.
Thabo Tawuli (15) and Jesse Thomas (16) were on their way to a friend’s party when a man approached them for help. According to them, the man, who is estimated to be in his late 20s, approached and asked them to help take a bank card to his alleged pregnant wife who was at Carlswald Shopping Centre.
“He was standing in front of a complex entrance and told us he didn’t want the wife to come to the house because his girlfriend was visiting him. He gave me the card and I left my bag with Tawuli to go and look for the pregnant wife who was apparently wearing a brown dress,” narrated Thomas.
Apparently, the suspect who was with Tawuli then received a call from the alleged wife who claimed that he gave her the wrong card. “After finishing with his call, he told me to leave our bags and go find my friend to tell him that he has a wrong card,” said Tawuli.
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“I refused to give him our bags but he said that we also have his credit card and he was afraid we were going to disappear with it. I left him with our bags to find my friend and the pregnant woman.”
However, when they returned without finding the pregnant woman, the man was gone with their belongings. “We asked the people by the side of the road if they hadn’t seen him and they told us that he drove away in a silver Kia Picanto with our bags,” they said.
Their bags contained clothes, a cellphone, two tablets, a PlayStation, two PlayStation controllers, three USBs, a volleyball, a pump, headphones, two chargers and a speaker.
Thabo’s father, Glen Tawuli said he was disappointed by the lack of police visibility in the area and that police could not open a robbery case without serial numbers of the stolen goods. “The least they could have done was communicate with police officers in the field to be vigilant of the suspect because he could be robbing other youngsters out there. But instead, nothing is done and a case can only be opened once we have the serial numbers,” he said.
Jesse’s mother, Tiffany HoYee warned youngsters to travel in groups and be wary of people who approach them under the pretext of looking for help. “Crime is rife now as we approach the festive season and young people, especially, are being targeted,” she added.
Spokesperson for the Midrand police, Sergeant Matome Tlamela said that the only way for the police to open a case and capture the stolen goods on their records is by having the serial numbers.
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