Nyanga police have made a desperate call to Uber and Bolt taxi drivers to always be vigilant and cautious when called to transport clients from or into the Nyanga policing precinct.
The warning on Wednesday followed a number of reported robberies, mostly involving women who pretend to be clients wanting transport.
Police said in a recent incident, in which a driver transported a woman to Crossroads, the woman had promised the driver that the fare would be paid by another
man when they reached the destination.
While the man was paying for the ride, others appeared and forced the driver into the boot of the vehicle and drove away.
In another incident, a metre taxi driver was hijacked by a regular client and his friends.
Police said the suspect also requested to be dropped at a destination and when they arrived he wanted to be taken to Crossroads and while on the way back to the first destination with the client and his friends they robbed the driver and drove away with his vehicle.
Nyanga police spokesperson Captain Ntomboxolo Sitshitshi said all the robberies happened in Crossroads.
“The driver who was put in the boot managed to open the boot from the inside and escaped while the vehicle was in motion and reported the matter.
We are appealing to the drivers to be vigilant and take extra precautions when asked to pick up clients,” said Captain Sitshitshi.
She said the drivers should not drop their guard with women clients. In most cases women are the ones who make a call and when the driver arrives the woman would come and inform the driver that she called for a relative and all of sudden unknown men would approach the driver.
“They would demand keys, rob and hijacked him.
In some instances they (women) would call and when the driver arrives a man or men would come rob and hijack the vehicle,” she explained.
Captain Sitshitshi said cases of robbery are being investigated.
If you have any information about these incidents, call 021 380 3304/3374 or 08600 10111.