Police spokesperson, Thabo Covane, said the suspects are facing charges of perjury after they falsely claimed to be hijacked.

He says in one of the cases a 21-year-old student claimed to have been hijacked by two robbers at gunpoint, but preliminary results showed otherwise. Two other such cases were also registered.

Covane added that three incidents were falsely reported in Bloemfontein and the police have since opened cases of perjury against the parties involved.

“In two of the three incidents I talked to you about, the vehicles overturned. Those people cannot tell their insurance [they’ve caused the accidents] because there will be repercussions. Now they come to the station, open a case and claim that the car was hijacked. A case will be opened, so it’s also fraud in a way,” says Covane.

Covane says the trend is worrying the police, as he further explains that in a third incident another person claimed that his vehicle was missing only to be noticed that it was all along in the garage.

He says they picked up on a trend, especially orchestrated by students, who claim to have been robbed of their valuables such as cell phones worth of R10 000 to R17 000, only to be revealed by police to be false claims.

He added that they want to urge the community to refrain from such acts. He says they are aware of these and anyone found to be on the wrong side of the law will be harshly dealt with. He warns that residents and the police should not square off while people accuse them of unfair treatment.

OFM News/Lucky Nkuyane