(Photo for illustration: pixabay)
Police in Nyanga in the Western Cape are warning e-taxi drivers and online traders to stay away from Browns Farm in Philippi as robberies are increasingly occurring in this area.
The police say that several incidents have already been reported where especially users of the Facebook buying and selling platform Market Place and e-taxi drivers have been robbed and assaulted by miscreants.
These criminals lure their victims under false pretenses to the area where they are then ambushed.
Rhewal reported earlier that Ben Tuzee (51)a restaurant owner, was killed in Browns Farm in September last year when he and his niece were on their way to sell a television set that they had advertised on social media.
Jacques Brewer and his son, also Jacques, were attacked, assaulted and robbed at the same place two weeks before Tuzee when they wanted to deliver braai drums in the area which they had also advertised on social media. So did Ruve Wepener became a victim of robbers in Browns Farm when she traveled there to sell her son’s guitar to a potential Facebook Market Place buyer.
According to the police, several suspects were arrested last year in connection with these incidents, including six teenagers between the ages of 15 and 17 years old.
“Mobile phones seized by the police during their investigation revealed that the suspects had been talking to several potential victims,” Brig. Police spokesperson Lindiwe Dyantyi said.
“The majority of the robbery victims confirmed to the police that they did not know the area at all. Some of the victims were even under the impression that the area is a farm and not a township.”
Dyantyi says that although there was a slight decrease in cases after the arrests in September and October last year, the incidents have now increased sharply again.
“It is on this basis that we are warning both e-taxi drivers and online sellers and buyers not to travel to Browns Farm.”
“The Nyanga police are working with the local community policing forum and neighborhood watch members to patrol the identified hotspots and have deployed more manpower in these areas.”
