Bramley police officers are calling on residents who are part of a stokvel to remain vigilant against robberies during the holiday season.
Spokesperson for Bramley Police Station, Captain Molefe Mogodi said, “Criminals target the stokvel members when they share their money or are on their way to their meeting place.”
Mogodi said there are a few ways criminals rob stokvels.
“The primary manner is when chosen stokvel leaders withdraw the money from their bank account and proceed to their meeting place to share the cash accordingly. Soon criminals will show up at the meeting place and rob the members of everything.
“Usually this incident causes conflict among the members as they will then begin accusing each other for the robbery.”
The other type of stokvel robbery is when a member, who is given responsibility to collect the money, is robbed on the way back from the bank.
“Even though there is no proof that the victim had prior arrangement with the criminals, it is assumed that the criminals would have not known about the money should the information not been leaked.”
Bramley police officers are now advising the stokvel groups to visit their bank for assistance.
“Stokvel members should speak to the manager to assist them by paying money into each member’s account. They may also ask the bank to assist in any manner suitable for the safety of their money.”
Details: 086 001 0111.
Read: Crime in Yeoville drops
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