FULL STORY: Sisters stand up against robber

With increasing reports of people being targeted for person-to-person robbery in the city, two sisters fought back when they found themselves the target of a robber in Landdros Maré Street on Monday.

July 10, 2015

Riana Joubert 2 minutes read

POLOKWANE – With increasing reports of people being targeted for person-to-person robbery in the city, two sisters fought back when they found themselves the target of a robber in Landdros Maré Street on Monday.
Angela de Ponte and her sister, Maria Paolini were out for lunch when they decided to walk to a clothing store in Landdros Maré Street. The women were waiting at a traffic light when they were approached by a man.
“It seemed that he was just walking by and I only got a glimpse of him as he passed. He then grabbed my necklace and tried to rip it off my neck,” De Ponte told Review.
She said in that moment, all she could think of was that there was no way the man would take her necklace and she hit him with the shopping bags she was carrying.
“I hit him with my hand and fist as well and he let go of my necklace and continued down the street,” she said.
De Ponte said a passerby asked what happened and when she pointed to the man and explained what happened, the man recognised the would-be thief and gave chase.
The man later told De Ponte that the thief had also grabbed his wife’s necklace a day or so before.
“I believe that people in the city stand back and take too much from criminals. It is time that we stand up against crime and take back our neighbourhoods and make them safe for residents and children,” De Ponte said.
Polokwane police spokesperson, Capt Ntobeng Phala, said the police were aware of thieves grabbing items such as jewellery in the city and that they were interacting with several street committees to find out where these criminals targeted people so they could take the syndicate down.
He said the police do not encourage people to take the law into their own hands as many of the criminals may be armed and dangerous.
He urged the community, especially women and the elderly, not to carry valuable items with them when in the street as this was an open invitation for criminals.
During a community policing forum (CPF) meeting at the Polokwane police station in June, the police said they focused operations on clamping down on the selling and use of dagga.
This is a sound strategy as statistics showed that in most areas where crime was a factor, there was a large market for drugs like dagga.
“In most cases like these where jewellery is stolen or cellular phones, most of the time, the reason is to resell the items for cash to buy drugs,” Phala said.