A 68-year-old pastor will appear in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court for providing false information to the police after admitting he lied about being hijacked along the R37.
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A 68-year-old pastor is due to appear in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court on Monday, May 5, 2025, after allegedly lying to police about being hijacked.
According to police, the man went to the Westenburg police station on Friday, May 2, and reported that he had been hijacked on April 11, while driving on the R37 road to Polokwane in a Daihatsu Terios. He claimed that he picked up two men who were hitchhiking, and that they later pointed a gun at him and stole his car. He said the vehicle was found later that day on the same road, but the gearbox was missing.
Police investigated and found the vehicle at a car clinic in the Lebowakgomo area.
The owner of the scrapyard told officers that the man had called for a tow truck after the car broke down. He was driven there by his personal driver and had already paid half the cost to fix the gearbox, which was later stolen.
When confronted with this information, the pastor admitted that the hijacking did not happen. He was arrested for giving false information to the police.
Acting Provincial Commissioner Major-General Samuel Manala said the police had done well to follow up and get to the truth.
“These kinds of false cases stretch resources unnecessarily and in the process the most deserving complaints are denied the opportunity to be attended to promptly,” he said.
Police investigations are still continuing.
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