It would seem that criminals have decided to avoid the Christmas rush and start doing their “shopping” earlier.
The past week, the Soutpansberg community has been hard hit by violent crimes, which included the murder of two well-known Indian businessmen Mr Bhavesh Desai (43) and Mr Imityaz Faruk Motala (35).
Apart from this loss to the business fraternity, several other businesses in Makhado (Louis Trichardt) also became the victims of ruthless thugs.
Over the weekend, thieves broke into Pep Stores in Krogh Street, blasted the shop's safe open and made off with all their weekend profits. “The suspects gained entrance by cutting away part of the corrugated iron on the roof and got away with an undisclosed amount of cash and a number of cellphones,” said local police spokesperson Const Irene Radzilane. The store manager only discovered the theft when she opened the shop for business on Monday. Police are investigating a case of business robbery.
On Monday, the police were once again called to investigate a case of common robbery. An unidentified woman was on her way to deposit money at Standard Bank in Krogh Street. She was confronted by one suspect, who cut of the straps of the bag containing the money. The suspect then jumped into a silver car and drove off. The suspect was involved in a crash along Joubert Street, but still managed to escape on foot. Police investigations are continuing.
This recent upsurge in crime has forced the local police to bring forward the dates of their crime-prevention programmes. These programmes are usually launched during November. “We have already increased our visibility in and around town,” said Radzilane. She also confirmed that other prevention programmes will be started during the course of October.
In the meantime, the police have also asked the community to assist them with information that might lead to the arrest of a hijacker who is still on the loose. This man is suspected of driving the getaway vehicle of alleged suspects Norman Raluswinga (30) and Tumelo Matsipi (32). They were arrested on 9 September in a botched hijacking along the Thohoyandou road. Anybody with relevant information is invited to phone the Makhado SAPS charge office at Tel 015 519 4300.
