It’s a jungle out there. A man and a woman from Kuisebmond in Walvis Bay are believed to be targeting shebeen patrons with a scam by which the woman pretends to have been robbed of her cell phone and a man claiming to be a police official then turns up and parts the “suspect” with all their valuables.

Savacci André told Informanté he visited the Etosha Bar in Kuisebmond last weekend and admittedly became quite drunk at a shebeen in the Tutaleni area. In his drunken state a woman, whom he knows only as Anna, walked up to him and started accusing him of stealing her cell phone.
“The cell phone the woman claimed I stole was actually my own phone,” an outraged André claims. He says the fact that he was drunk made his counter arguments worthless. Soon a man arrived at the Etosha Bar wearing a reflective vest which André and a friend claim bore the words ‘Namibian Police’.
“I recall the man introducing himself as a police officer from the Tutaleni police station. He said his name was Joachim Haikali,” André told Informanté. The policeman initially threatened to take him into custody, but later said he would keep the suspected stolen cell phone with him and that André must report to the Tutaleni police the next morning.
“I admit that I was still drunk when I arrived at the police the next morning, but to my horror had to discover there is no policeman by the name of Joachim Haikali at the Tutaleni police and apart from my cell phone now missing I also missed all the cash from my wallet,” a frustrated André said. He wanted to tell his story to a female police officer, but she refused to listen to him as his breath “smelt of alcohol”.
André laid a charge of theft at the Tutaleni police this week, but decided to tell his story to Informanté, because he hopes some of the other shebeen patrons might have recognised the man and the women and can assist the Tutaleni police to trace them. He is also concerned about the fact that the man pretends to be a police official, as this puts him in a position to target other people. He further wants to warn people not to become victims of crime when they are under the influence of alcohol.