Limpopo Stokvel Accosted by 2 Armed Assailants and Robbed of R60 000 in Savings

• Members of a stokvel (savings/sharing club) were targeted by two armed assailants while distributing their savings from this year
• The criminals allegedly entered the house where the group was sharing and locked the stokvel members in before fleeing with the money
• Limpopo police commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has cautioned stokvel members against withdrawing large sums of money in favour of using EFTs

LIMPOPO - What was meant to be a moment of sharing among friends turned into a moment of terror when stokvel members were robbed by two armed suspects at Ga-Mamabolo in Limpopo.

The group had gathered at one of the member's houses in Tshwanevillage to share R60 000 which they had collectively saved throughout the year when the criminals accosted them. Limpopo police spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba said the armed men ordered the victims to lie down before they took all the money.

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According to Ledwaba, the assailants locked the stokvel members in one of the rooms in the house before they fled with the cash, IOL reported.

Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, the provincial commissioner of police in Limpopo, cautioned South Africans from withdrawing large sums of money, especially during the festive season.

Hadebe said that the authorities often receive reports about stokvel members being robbed after withdrawing the year's savings. The provincial commissioner added that sharing stokvel contributions in this method attracts criminals.

Stokvels are advised to use electronic funds transfer (EFT) to distribute money rather than withdrawing large sums of cash from the bank. The growth manager for FNB Cash investments, Sifiso Nkosi advised that payouts should be done electronically as a rule of thumb. However, when an EFT is not possible, the person withdrawing the money should not go alone, Drum reported.

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South Africans react to the stokvel members being targeted

Some citizens think that the robbery was an inside job and one of the stokvel members tipped the criminals off.

@KwaUliwa asked:

"In the age of EFT's, CashSend and money transfers made possible by the 4IR? Who doesn't have a bank account these days? In 2030 are we going to be reading about such robberies?"

@PietStassen joked:

"Why was the money not in a sofa?"

@Umalumewabantu speculated:

"One among them called the tsotsis."

@tshivhelevhele said:

"I smell a rat."

Gunmen targeted mourning family, fatally shooting 7 relatives for R50 000 stokvel money

In a similar story, Briefly News reported that seven family members were brutally gunned down by shooters demanding R50 000 stokvel money near Qunu in the Eastern Cape on Wednesday, 16 November.

The family were preparing for the funeral of one of their loved ones when the gunmen barged in and demanded the money. Six victims were fatally shot inside a rondavel, while another was shot inside the main house.

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One of the victims succumbed to their wounds and died along the N2 not far from the Ultra City in Mthatha, en route to the hospital. According to TimesLIVE, the family and community were shocked by the incident.

Source: Briefly News