Pietermaritzburg - A Bishopstowe woman who was attacked by robbers and abducted along with her husband believes her friend sold her out to criminals.
The woman and her husband from Maqongqo, who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation, were allegedly attacked by four men in their home near Table Mountain during the early hours of Saturday.
After the men assaulted the couple, they were tied up and stripped naked before being taken to the Northway Mall in their own vehicle where the robbers wanted to withdraw cash.
Three of the four men were arrested at the mall after a speedy response by members of the Combined Action Team (CAT) and the K9 unit.
Speaking to The Witness on Monday, the woman said she and her husband were assaulted with hammers and stabbed.
She suspects that a friend, with whom she is not on good terms, had directed the men to her home.
In an article on Monday, The Witness reported that it was believed the woman was targeted because she had more than 50 South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) cards.
Asked about the Sassa cards found at the scene, she said, “They must have fallen off one of the criminals”.
“I do not know anything about them, I saw the cards but I did not know what they were,” she said.
The woman believes her friend had sold her out to criminals for the second time.
She said her friend had called her on Friday morning asking to borrow R2 000.
“I did not want her to come to my house because I have been robbed before — in September last year — and I suspected her. At the time, the criminals went straight to my room and took R17 000 that was meant for roofing my house,” the woman said.
She said when the men barged into her home, she screamed and her son managed to jump out of the window and alert the police.
The men made off with R3 000 from her and another R1 500 from her husband, she said.
Sassa spokesperson Vusumuzi Mahaye said they became aware of the incident after reading The Witness article.
“The issue has been brought to the attention of our fraud unit to collect relevant information and decide on a way forward,” Mahaye said.
Police spokesperson Major Thulani Zwane said the robbers (aged between 22 and 30) will appear in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday facing charges of house robbery, kidnapping and theft of motor vehicle.
