A 52-year-old woman was robbed by bogus police on 23 February in Ivory Park, Midrand.
Captain Manyadza Ralidzhivha from the Tembisa Police Station said the victim was on her way to Ivory Park Clinic when she was approached by an unknown man.
According to police, the woman was tapped on her shoulder by a stranger who smeared an unfamiliar substance on her jersey. Another pedestrian then approached the woman and advised her to report the matter to the three police officers who were seated in a nearby police van.
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It turns out they were bogus officers, who then told the woman that because she had been smeared with the unknown substances, all the money in her account will disappear unless she withdraws everything quickly.Theey then accompanied the woman to a bank in Phumlani Mall, Tembisa.
The victim was advised to increase her daily withdrawal limit prior to making an ATM withdrawal. “She went into the bank with one of the ‘officers’ who then took the card and told her he wanted to spray it with muti so that the money would not disappear,” said Ralidzhivha.
“Immediately after punching in her pin, the victim did not know what was happening and said all the money she withdrew appeared as blank paper, yet her account reflected that a sum of money had been withdrawn.”
The suspect then took the ‘paper money’ and gave the woman R10 for taxi fare and left.
This form of theft is not unusual; many people have fallen victim to it and it is known among African people as salamuzi (the use of magic to steal money). During a salamuzi robbery, money appears as paper to the victim.
A case of theft has been opened at the Tembisa Police Station for further investigation.
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