Everson Luhanga
Driving flashy cars, the gang of thieves looked like izikhothane – show offs.
But the fast cars served a purpose: the gang grabbed cell phones from unsuspecting people and then sped off in their fancy cars.
The crew of men and women has been terrorising people in different parts of Johannesburg.
But now some members of the gang have been arrested and more arrests are expected.
Lesedi Kelle, a student at the Richfield Graduate Institute of Technology, was a victim of the syndicate.
She said one of the thugs snatched her phone and ran off. But she ran after him.
“I chased the man. I was able to grab him before he got into the car. He managed to get half of his body in the car when he told the driver to drive off while I was holding onto him dragging me with the car. I fell off and they drove away,” said Lesedi.
“I lost everything on that phone. There were school documents and assignments that were sent to me electronically.
“The whole ordeal was very traumatic and scary,” she said.
But the three suspects who robbed Lesedi are behind bars, after their car was spotted in the same policing precinct on Saturday.
“We apprehended the suspects and seized the vehicle. One of the suspects was still wearing the same jacket he had on the day of the robbery,” said Hillbrow police spokesman Sergeant Mduduzi Zondo.
He said police arrested three suspects following a robbery that took place in Joubert Park, and confirmed a woman was robbed when she was waiting for the ride she requested.
When questioned, one of them told the police that they sold the phone in the Joburg CBD.
Zondo said the incident was captured on a CCTV camera that helped the police to apprehend the suspects.
The police also called on other victims to come forward.
“There is a high probability that the same suspects could have robbed other people in the area,” he said.
The suspects appeared in court on Monday where they were denied bail.
