POLOKWANE – Residents who walk to and from work using the railway line under the Westenburg bridge as a shortcut are in danger of being robbed by four unknown men.
Havie Banadie, a Westenburg resident says the men sit under the bridge and pretend to be homeless people sitting around a fire.
“They watch the people and pick out their victims. We believe that they split into groups of two when they attack their victim and run into different directions after the attack. Last Friday me and a friend tried to help a man who was attacked by these guys. They stole some of his tools. We couldn’t catch them because they ran in different directions and into the bushes,” Banadie said.
He added that the previous day another person was attacked seemingly by the same guys, but he managed to get away before they could take anything from him.
“We have noticed that these guys operate from Thursday to Saturday. Something needs to be done, because soon someone will could be killed or raped. We cannot take these guys on, because if we hurt them then we get arrested so the police must intervene and catch these crooks. The police must patrol the area. People take the shortcut because they don’t have money to use the taxi every day, and some work down town which is close enough to walk to work instead of using public transport,” Banadie said.
Capt Mohlaka Mashaine, Westenburg police spokesperson confirmed the police were aware of people being robbed in the area.
“The incidents take place early in the morning when people go to work and late afternoon when they come home. We have people patrolling the area during that time. We urge residents to make use of public transport, but if need to walk to use the main road and to walk in groups,” Mashiane said.
