The MEC for Community Safety Faith Mazibuko stepped in to assist a traumatised woman who was conned out of over R40 000 of her savings by scam artists in Hebron.
Mazibuko was conducting an anti-crime roadblock with members of various law enforcement agencies in Mabopane when she stopped a car taking the woman to consult a traditional healer.
A traumatised Louisa Molopyane, 58, was being driven by her grandsons after she'd been struggling to deal with the experience since the incident happened last week outside Choppies shopping store in Hebron.
She told a concerned Mazibuko that a man smeared her with some substance when she was leaving the grocery store and while she was still trying to process that, a group of men quickly approached her and told her that muthi had just been used on her and she needed to come with them quickly.
"These guys were so quick they didn't give me time to process anything. They quickly showed me a badge that they were police officers and as quickly as I saw it, it was gone from my face and suddenly they put me in a car.
"Everything was happening so fast, it was like my brain just stopped working. We drove all the way to Menlyn and they made me withdraw all my money. When you need to increase your daily limit, they take you and they are right there with you.
Mazibuko said she was quick to notice that the woman was traumatised and needed counselling and she referred her to officials she knew at Hebron police station to arrange for her counseling as soon as she returned from consulting the traditional healer.
Mazibuko said: "These criminals did these “masalamusi” (magic) trick on the woman and drove around with her, robbing her of over R40 000 of her money and that's why we need to make sure that she receives help
"It is clear there is a lot of lawlessness here in Gauteng and that is why we have police operations like Okae Molao to take back our communities and chase away these criminals. You can imagine how many elderly people fall victim to these tricks at month end after receiving their pensions."
Molopyane's newphew, Ramarumo Molopyane, said they were only taking her aunt to a healer because the criminals continued to call her days after robbing her; making her even more traumatised by the day.
"We want her to get cleansed and feel free from their spirit because they've been calling her and asking her questions about her children and other stuff," he added.
A case has been opened at the Hebron police station.
Pretoria News