Police call on taxi robbery victims to report incidents

Police have called on victims of taxi robberies not to hesitate to open cases as this would aid cases in which the suspects are eventually arrested.

Residents have raised concerns about incidents where they were robbed of their belongings by people who jump out of taxis to rob them.

One such victim, Zandile Molefe, said she was walking in Block MM last week Tuesday when a taxi stopped and two men jumped out before robbing her.

“I did not expect it because I just thought it was a taxi. They pointed a gun at me and demanded that I give them my bag. They threatened to shoot me if I did not comply.”

Molefe said she has since been shaken by the incident and this has caused her to panic when she sees a taxi.

“It happened last week and I still panic whenever I see a taxi. The thing is that I have to use taxis when I go to work and I also think what if I’m getting on the wrong taxi. Maybe this time, they will rape or even kill me.”

Another victim, Nthabiseng Maromo, said a similar incident happened to her around Block JJ last week Friday.

“These men got out of a taxi and demanded that I give them my belongings or they would shoot me. I was very scared and I complied.”

Maromo said she, however, did not report the incident because she did not see the taxi’s registration number.

“When it happened, I was just praying they wouldn’t hurt me or force me into the taxi.”

Soshanguve police spokesperson Nhlanhla Zondi said taxis were used to rob people and businesses around communities using them.

Some of the taxis were even involved in house robberies and car hijackings.

“The problem is that there are a lot of taxis. It becomes difficult to trace them because they use false number plates when committing these crimes. Even when the victim has a registration number, when we check the registration, we find that it is false or does not exist.”

Zondi encouraged those who have fallen victim to such robberies to report them.

“When the suspects are arrested, they could be linked to other cases. If a victim does report the case, it increases the chances that the suspects are jailed.

“In some incidents, we find a vehicle that was used in the commission of a crime. When we check it, you find that it was involved in 10 more crimes, so we would like the community to report these incidents.”

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