Kekana was walking along Jan Smuts Avenue near Hyde Park shopping centre when a man bumped into her.
“Another man came behind me and asked me why the other man had bumped into me and he showed me a black stain on my arm,” said Kekana. “He had the same stain on his arm. As we were trying to figure out what the stain was, a white Polo stopped next to us.”
She said the man she was standing with pushed her into the car and followed her inside. In the car there were two men who claimed that they were police officers.
Kekana said they took out a card and said they saw what had happened when the man bumped into her. “I thought they were trying to help, I didnt think much about it,” she said.
The car moved and caught up with the other man that had bumped into her and they opened the car door to let him in. “He was not running, they did not even force him to get into the car. They just told him to get in and he got inside the car,” explained Kekana. She said that was the moment when she figured out that something was not right.
She said it appeared all four men knew one another and this was just a plot to get her inside the car. “They then locked the doors. They started asking him questions about what he was doing when he bumped into me,” said Kekana. The man took out a container with the black substance and said he uses it to steal peoples money.
“The other man who also had the black stain on his arm looked inside his bag and claimed that his money was gone. Then one of the other men who claimed to be the police, attempted to spray a liquid into my eyes but I covered my eyes. They said the spray was meant to protect me from the muthi that would make my money disappear.”
Kekana told them she had no money with her so there was no need for the spray or to go to the police. After driving around a couple of blocks the men finally decided to let Kekana out. “I was very afraid but I pretended I was not,” she said.
“People need to be careful. Criminals are desperate and they will do anything to get money.”
Colonel Nanda Moodley, spokesperson for the Parkview police said he had not received any information about such a crime syndicate in that area. He appealed to the community to be vigilant during the upcoming festive season and to continue to report any criminal activity to the police.
