“When he leaned over me and asked me to show him how much fuel was in the car, I thought this was the end, he was going to hijack me…”
Robbers held a Hartbeespoort woman (36) in her car for 20 minutes and robbed her of her belongings at the licencing centre in Akasia on Monday morning.
The woman, who does not want to be named, had an appointment at the licencing centre on Monday morning to renew her driver’s licence. “When I got to the licencing office, a man, who I presumed was a car guard, showed me to a parking space, only about 30 m from the police station. As I opened my door to get out, the presumed car guard pushed it closed again and another man got into the passenger seat. He locked the doors and told me to keep quiet and sit still. The one was still standing outside my window. They asked me for money, my cellphone and other belonging. I was asked for my phone’s pin and had to open it with my fingerprint. The one outside my window then left with the phone,” she told Kormorant.
She only had about R600 with her to pay the licencing office, her cellphone and the application for the licence. The second man stayed with her in the car. “He received a phone call and then asked me how much fuel I had in the car. Luckily there was very little fuel in the car and I told him so. He leaned over me and said he wanted to see. I went cold, I thought he was now going to tell me to drive. I have never prayed so hard. But he just sat back and made another call after which he told me they wanted more money. I told him I didn’t have more money on me and that he should ask the other man to bring back my phone so I can ask my husband to transfer money.”
Throughout the whole ordeal, she was trying to reach her husband with her smart watch but did not succeed. “He saw me fiddling with the watch and asked me if it was a telephone watch. I said no, I was looking at the time. After this, he jumped out of the car and disappeared.”
She immediately went to the police station to report the robbery. “I was told by a female police officer at the Akasia police station that I cannot open a case as I gave my phone to the robber. She also told me there were a lot of criminals around but that this was South Africa.”
“I just want to warn other people who visit the Akasia licencing centre to be aware of the modus operandi and the robberies. Women should not be going to the licencing office alone. Take someone with you and be vigilant.”