Businesses operating from Bloed Street in the Pretoria CBD have accused police officers of taking bribes from criminals.
|||Shop owners and vendors operating from Bloed Street in the Pretoria CBD have accused police officers of taking bribes from criminals who “rob people with impunity” along the street.
According to the shop owners and vendors who are too terrified of the criminals to have their identities published, a notorious gang of criminals numbering more than 10 “have taken over” the section of Bloed Street between Prinsloo and Andries streets.
“They mug people in broad daylight, but shop owners, vendors and the public are too scared to confront them,” said a woman who works in a hair salon in Bloed Street.
Each time these criminals are reported and arrested, they’d be back the following day, she said. Shop owners believe this is because they are released by police after paying bribes.
“People are being mugged daily, but there is nothing we can do. If we report them and they get arrested, we know they will be back the following day,” said a shop owner, who declined to be named for fear of victimisation.
“They would also not hesitate to deal with the person who had reported them,” the shop owner added.
On Saturday, a schoolboy was robbed at about noon after visiting a doctor’s surgery in Bloed Street.
A lone man approached the boy, bumped him and then accused the boy of having deliberately stepped on his foot. The mugger demanded the boy apologise. He then took the boy’s BlackBerry phone and told him to disappear.
A vendor, who declined to be named, said the muggers often moved around with plastic bags, carrying spare clothing. “As soon as they’ve robbed someone, they go into the toilet of the nearest pub and change clothes.”
He accused police of turning a blind eye to the muggers. Instead, officers move from shop to shop looking for undocumented foreigners from whom they demand bribes.
The vendor also said Bloed Street had become a no-go area for whites. It was almost “100 percent certain that a white person would get mugged”.
Police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Wanda Olivier said police would investigate claims of arrested criminals being seen back in the street. - Pretoria News
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