Police warn hitch-hikers and motorists offering lifts to strangers to be wary of the danger

Police in Mpumalanga warns hitch-hikers and motorists who offer lifts to strangers about the danger by doing so. The warning comes after several incidents occurred in some parts of the province, where victims were robbed as they either gave lifts to strangers or were offered a lift by unknown motorists. One of the incidents which occurred at Delmas was reported to have taken place on March 10, where a man who was driving a silver-grey Toyota Etios on the N12, saw three men who appeared to be hitch-hiking.

Hitchhiking may be cheap but it is dangerous

The men were wearing reflector jackets as well as blue work suits, which seemed as if they had just knocked off from work. The driver sympathized with them and offered them a lift home; however, they turned against him along the way.

“One of the suspects took out a rope and strangled the driver, forcing him to the back seat of the vehicle. They then drove with him but later abandoned him at a secluded area and drove away in his vehicle,” Brigadier Leonard Hlathi, SAPS provincial spokesperson stated.

Furthermore, in another separate incident, a man who was hitch-hiking became a victim of an armed robbery in February of this year, at Emdicott situated in Delmas, after he was offered a lift by three suspects who were driving in a black BMW.

“Along the way, one of the suspects pulled out a firearm and held the man hostage. The suspects robbed the victim of his laptop, cell phone and an undisclosed amount of cash before ordering him to climb out of the vehicle,” Hlathi added.

On June 19 a 45-year-old man became a victim of a hitch-hiking scam as he was traveling from Sabie to White River. He was offered a lift by three suspects who were driving in a blue Suzuki vehicle.

Man’s car hijacked by hitch hikers

Along the way, the driver stopped the vehicle and demanded the victim’s cell phone while pointing him with a firearm. The suspects reportedly robbed the victim of his cash as well as bank cards and further instructed him to electronically transfer cash to them. The suspects then ordered him to climb out of the vehicle too, firing some shots to scare him as he ran off,” said Hlathi. Similar incidents were reported in March, where suspects preyed upon hitch-hikers at Mavakamela on the Sabie/White River Road. They were robbed by suspects who offered them a lift. Their intention is always to rob victims of their personal belongings, including cash and cell phones.

Don’t stop to give hitch hikers a lift

Some of the hitch-hikers were even held hostage in the bushes and suspects used their bank cards to withdraw cash from the ATM’s against their will. On Sunday, May 30 another man driving a taxi, offered a lift to a hitch-hiker at Bronkhorstspruit. The person indicated that he was going to the KG Mall at Vosman and when they arrived there, he further made another request to the driver to ferry him to the location so that he could fetch money to buy petrol for his vehicle. The driver or the owner of the taxi acceded to the request unbeknownst to him that he was setting himself up for a robbery.

“The hitch-hiker went to a certain house and came out with another man who both boarded the taxi and asked the driver to get moving. Along the way, they produced firearms and took over the driving. The suspects gave other hitch-hikers lifts, then robbed them in the process. The worst stunt pulled on that day, was when they gave two women a lift, dragged them to the bushes together with the taxi owner and then forced the taxi owner to rape one of the women while they took turns raping the other. Immediately after the horrible ordeal, they tied the taxi owner as well as the women and left them in the bushes. The captives were rescued by a passer-by,” Hlathi further added.

The police appeal to the community to use a formal mode of transport than hitch-hiking and also for motorists not to give lifts to strangers. Major General Thulani Phahla, the Acting Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, has warned people to avoid hitch-hiking and motorists urged to avoid offering lifts to strangers.

“We are aware of the economic challenges that our people are faced with, however; the lives of citizens are more precious than anything else,” General Phahla concluded.

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