‘I was hypnotised and robbed’
WESTDENE – A University student was robbed of R3 800, abducted by a self-proclaimed prophet that left her to fend for herself in a strange town.
Charlotte Rabotoakana (19) experienced what some may find hard to believe.
The University of Johannesburg Human Resources student was walking along Thornton Road in Westdene on 4 February when a man approached her.
Rabotoakana was returning to her Westdene commune from Campus Square where she had withdrawn money from the ATM and bought books.
“A man dressed in blue wanted to speak to me and I ignored him and put my earphones in. He walked faster toward me with his hands in his pockets. He then touched me with some powder-like product. I am not sure what it was.”
The man asked the first-year student for directions.
“He told me his parents are traditional doctors and they don’t accept cash as gratitude, so he wanted directions to a house in order to return money to a woman his parents had helped.”
According to Rabotoakana, as the two conversed, another man passed by.
“He [the man in blue] then asked directions from the other man. The man warned him not to ask for directions from strangers because he may be robbed.”
In response, according to Rabotoakana the man in blue said, “I don’t just ask directions from anyone because I am a prophet and I can sense things.”
“At that moment, the man in blue started telling me things about my family that were true. He then said he cannot continue telling me information about my family in public. He proposed that we continue the conversation in the car, but I refused,” she said.
“When I refused, he told me that there was smoke coming from my hair. He put his hands on my head and started praying for me. While he was praying, somehow I started agreeing to everything he said.”
Rabotoakana agreed to go to the car.
“The man in blue asked to pray for my books and he told me that my ID and phone are going to defile me.”
The two men started driving and made a stop at OR Tambo International airport, and then proceeded to Pretoria.
According to Rabotoakana, the man in blue said her “spirit” was unsettling him.
“When we got to a garage, the man in blue gave me R100 and told me to go buy water. He ordered me to say the Lord’s Prayer four times before making the purchase so that I don’t defile it. When I came back the men had driven away with all my belongings.”
She later found out that R3 800 had been withdrawn from her account.
“I think that these people followed me from Campus Square, which is maybe where they saw my bank card PIN number.”
Rabotoakana was helped by a petrol attendant who gave her a place to sleep and transport money to return home the following day.
“A lot of things don’t make sense to me any more and I can’t believe what happened,” she said.
