Crime steadily on the increase in Polokwane

POLOKWANE – In the first incident, a man was killed when a robbery turned bloody in the Polokwane Central Business District (CBD) on Friday.

According to Polokwane police spokesperson, Capt Ntobeng Phala, the man was confronted by three men who wanted to rob him of his cell phone and other possessions at the Indian Centre in Excelsior Street.

The man refused to give them his items and was stabbed to death by the suspects.

In other incidents, there were three robberies last week, two of them armed.

Last Tuesday, an attempted house robbery occurred in Bayman Street in Bendor, where a suspect was caught trying to break into one of the houses by another resident nearby, who was notified and went to investigate.

The second armed robbery occurred in a security complex last Wednesday.

On Wednesday evening, two prominent lawyers were held at gunpoint at their offices in Hoog Street.

Phala confirmed that a group of four men in a charcoal coloured Audi with no registration plates gained access to the gated residence after which three of the suspects stormed into house.

“The suspects found the lawyers inside the house and held them at gunpoint,” said Phala.

The suspects escaped with an undisclosed amount of money, electronics as well as cell phones which were later found dumped at Motor City on the N1.

Phala could not confirm if the two armed robberies were related. He said no arrests have yet been made in any of these incidents, and that investigations were still ongoing.

“We urge the community to work closely with the police to help curb crime in the city. We have several plans in place to reduce crime, but they can only be successful if everyone works together,” said Phala.