A man from Jotsholo in Lupane reportedly forged a letter, tricked his neighbour and robbed him of groceries and clothes worth about R2 000, police said.
Mqani Ncube of Banda Village was arrested two days after the incident. The officer commanding Lupane district, Chief Superintendent Johannes Govo, confirmed the incident on Thursday and said the suspect and the complainant were neighbours.
"The incident happened last week when Ncube approached Mr Zwelibanzi Gumede and asked for groceries and clothes left under his care. Ncube had forged a letter purporting that Mr Frank Mkwananzi, an umalayitsha, had given him permission to collect goods left with Mr Gumede for safekeeping.
"The groceries consisted of 20 litres of paraffin, five 20 litre buckets of cooking oil, a bag full of new clothes and different types of food," said Chief Supt Govo.
He said Mr Gumede believed the forged letter and gave the suspect all the goods.
"After two days Mr Mkwananzi went to Mr Gumede's homestead and asked for his groceries. He was shocked when told that someone had collected the groceries using a letter written by him," said Chief Supt Govo.
He said a report was made to the police who tracked and arrested Ncube.
"We arrested the man but only managed to recover four buckets of cooking oil. All the clothes were already worn and the food eaten and we failed to recover the paraffin. We encourage villagers to be careful and never trust anyone," he said.
- chronicle
0