Pensioner Martha Mahlatji, 72, along with other stokvel members were counting their year's savings when two gunmen suddenly pounced on them and made off with more than R70,000.
Provincial police spokesperson Col Malesela Ledwaba confirmed that they were on the hunt for suspects who allegedly robbed members of the Leshwane Mzansi Stokvel in Tshware village outside Mankweng in Limpopo, on Saturday morning.
The case comes a week after a 45-year-old man from Polokwane was robbed of R200,000 after he made a withdrawal at an ATM. Authorities have warned people from walking around with large amounts of money, especially during the festive season.
Yesterday, Sowetan spoke to Mahlatji, who described how they were attacked with guns, locked inside one of the bedrooms and left helpless as the assailants drove off with their hard-earned money.
Mahlatji said they had gathered around 9am inside her garage to count their savings and divide the earnings in time for the festive season. The cash was laid out on the table in R1,000 bundles.
While they were busy, two men walked into the yard but she did not suspect anything sinister. Things took a bad turn when the men entered the garage and one of them rolled the garage down and closed it before taking out a gun.
“He pointed a gun at us and told us to lie down. I was shaking from fear,” Mahlatji said.
She said both men, who were armed, went into the house and started ordering them to go into one of the bedrooms where they were also made to lie down on the floor.
“They took the key from the door and locked us inside the bedroom. It was terrible and we were crammed in there. They took all our phones,” Mahlatji said.
She said the boyfriend of one the stokvel members had been outside the gate when he was also dragged into the bedroom and his white van was used as the getaway car.
Her 12-year-old grandson who had been outside unlocked the bedroom door and they called the police.
Mahlatji said they believed the robbery was orchestrated by one of their members.
“This was definitely an inside job. I’m definitely sure of that. We want whoever is responsible for this to be arrested. We worked hard for that money. What they did to us is painful,” she said.
Mahlatji said she hoped to use the R3,400 to paint her house while other members were also looking forward to buying their families groceries, clothing and renovating their homes.
Mahlatji said not using the bank to manage their funds was a costly mistake they would never repeat.
The stokvel, which she started in 2021, had up 157 members who contribute R100 monthly but on the day of the robbery about 12 people, including the bookkeepers, were present to assist with counting of the money.
“We are going to change the way we do things in future because we realised the danger of handling all this money,” she said.
Limpopo’s commissioner of police Lt-Gen Thembi Hadebe warned people against moving around with hard cash and rather use electronic methods to transfer funds.
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