‘Pastors’ wearing church regalia hijack man of his VW Kombi
"He was ordered out of the car by the socalled pastors and they drove off in his vehicle leaving him behind."
Rietgat police have called on those in the transportation business to be wary of a developing pattern of carjacking within its precinct.
Captain Stephen Maluleka said this pattern involved perpetrators clad in pastors’ robes pretending to be hiring a minibus to take them somewhere to collect their fellow congregants who would also claim to be undertaking the same trip.
Maluleka said a man was hijacked in his a VW Kombi T6 by men who were wearing church regalia when he was called to pick up two people next to clinic 3 in block BB.
“He was requested to proceed to Mabopane station to pick up other pastors for the trip to Roodepoort on Saturday afternoon.
“After he had collected the other members purported to be from the same church at Mabopane station, two of them pointed firearms at him and he was instructed to give them the vehicle keys.”
Maluleka said the man was taken to a veld in Sofasonke near Klipgat in the North West province.
“Upon arrival at Sofasonke he was ordered out of the car by the so-called pastors and they drove off in his vehicle leaving him behind.”
He said the investigation suggests that the same modus operandi was also used earlier this year, where a vehicle was also hijacked by suspects who claimed to be from a church near clinic 3 in block BB.
ALSO READ: Cops tackle illicit cigarette trade
“The police would like to send a stern warning to the community, particularly those in the transportation business to always be vigilant when they are called by unknown people for transportation either locally or outside of Soshanguve.
“Rietgat station commander of SAPS, Brigadier Molatelo Maphoto, would like to further assure the victims of this practice that the station has put more effort in ensuring that these perpetrators are brought to book.
“Anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of wanted suspects or experiencing criminal activity should call Rietgat SAPS at 071 675 6250 or 012 432 7806/07.
“They can also call the Crime Stop hotline 08600 10111 or send a tip-off via the MySAPS App, downloadable free on Istore and Playstore.”
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
