On July 6, Mrs Xola Thabethe decided to go draw her workers’ wages from a bank in Highveld Mall.
She and her newly drawn R70 000 made their way safely to her car in Highveld Mall’s parking lot, and from there – drove onwards to a local produce shop where she hoped to buy fruit before returning to her place of work.
“I was gone for five seconds. I literally just wanted to go get some fruit for the fruit bowl at home. When I got to my car I immediately saw something was wrong. The lock on my car door had clearly been tampered with, and it actually looked like they were trying to carve it out of the car door,” elaborated Thabethe, “as I turned around to look for a security guard, I was approached by five strange men. One of them pointed a gun at me, in front of everyone, and told me to lay down.”
Next the men forced Thabethe to unlock her car so that they could remove the R70 000 in her glove compartment.
Thabethe had no choice but to comply.
Residents of eMalahleni are strongly advised to restrain from going to draw such large amounts of money alone, or to make any stops whilst having such a large amount of money in your possession, as these types of crimes remain prevalent in our community.
“I’m just glad I’m alive,” Thabethe concluded, “not even R70 000 is worth dying for.”
