Polokwane CBD targeted by criminals over Easter weekend

POLOKWANE – Crime was rife in the CBD over the long weekend, Polokwane Community Policing Forum (CPF) chairperson Rudolph Phaswana told Polokwane Observer.

Six cases of theft of out motor vehicles were recorded in the CBD between Thursday and Sunday, and mainly occurred in Schoeman, Grobler, Thabo Mbeki, Landdros Mare, Hans Van Rensburg, Jorissen, Rissik and Church streets along with Suid Street in Flora Park.

Flora Park is the only area in the city where both cases of house and business break-ins were recorded, Phaswana said.

He, however, mentioned that the forum had expected higher cases of these crimes given general crime patterns and soaring statistics in the city on normal days, but also attributed law enforcement visibility as one reason for the decrease in cases.

Phaswana said laptops, stationery, a television, files and cellphones are among the items stolen during a business break-in on Thursday, while another took place at a clothing store in Landdros Maré Street in which items valued at R64 000 were stolen, he confirmed.

“We are aware that in some cases, such crimes are staged for the purposes of claiming insurance money,” he remarked.

Three out of seven fraud cases recorded in this time were, however, cryptocurrency related in social media scams.

One complainant lost R106 000 in this way.

“One of the reported cases is linked to a fraud case involving a person who used a known provincial broadcaster’s platform to advertise what police have since confirmed to be a bitcoin scam in 2020. The advert explained how people become rich by investing money into bundles,” provincial police spokesperson, Col Malesela Ledwaba mentioned.

“Apparently, the problem started when the victims tried to withdraw their money. That is when they realised this could not be done and they were informed that the plan collapsed due to the inflation rate. It meant investors lost their money. The man’s office was closed and his phone went voice mail,” he explained.

Ledwaba mentioned that in 2022, over 10 dockets were registered between the Polokwane and Mokopane police stations, against the suspect and his wife.

In unrelated cases, Phaswana said two other people reported that their money was transferred unknowingly to bank accounts not know to them.