Stokvels urged to go electronic

With the approach of the festive season, police have urged stokvel groups who will be distributing contributions to their members to use electronic banking.

“This involves normally large sums of money that are distributed as cash pay-outs,” said police spokesman, Captain Thulani Zwane.

“We are urging these clubs to transfer these funds electronically to their members’ accounts, to avoid them being robbed of their cash.”

Captain Zwane said last year many stokvel clubs reported that they were robbed after they had withdrawn cash for distribution.

“We also had many members of stokvels reporting that they were robbed at their homes after they received their contributions from the stokvel.

“It is very evident that people are robbed by individuals that are close to them, who are aware that they will be receiving such a payout.

“During this past weekend we have already had two people that claimed that they were robbed of their stokvel money at their homes.

“To avoid become a victim of crime we are urging members of the community to make use of electronic banking facilities to make payments and to receive money.

“We also encourage employers to transfer their staff’s bonuses and salaries into their accounts during December, as carrying large sums of money will expose them to criminal elements.”