Members of the public and motorist have warned to be wary of criminals who target those behind the wheel and commuters after dark in Mogoditshane.
The warning was made by Mogoditshane Police Station commander, Superintendent Boemo Bok, who said they have seen an increase in smash-and-grab cases in the area. However, he could not provide readily available statistics at hand to support his concerns. Bok disclosed a rise in nightly muggings of pedestrians and car break-ins, especially near speed humps and intersections, with cases escalating on weekends. "We have observed that young men in their 20s always hang around bus stops targeting people who are getting out of public transport at night and pounce on them demanding money and other valuables like mobile phones.
"Usually, they go around carrying weapons like knives and others which they use to threaten people and walk away with their hard-earned valuables," he said. Bok added some hang around speed humps, where they break into vehicles, wrestle with drivers until they remove car keys from the ignition, and forcefully demand cash and other valuables. He said their area of coverage is vast, which overwhelms their resources despite assistance from the City Policing unit.
"Efforts are in place to respond to this scourge by installing safer city cameras but in the meantime, we implore the motorists to be on the lookout when driving at night because in all of the cases we have recorded these criminals are always successful," he said.
