Pastor appears in court after lying to the police

A 68-year-old pastor from Limpopo was arrested on Monday after lying to the police about a hijacking.

According to the office of the provincial commissioner, the suspect allegedly went to Westenburg police station to open a case of carjacking that he said took place along the R37 road in Westenburg. He told police that on April 11 at about 9am, he was driving to Polokwane in his Daihutsi Tarios when he found two men hiking on the road and offered them a lift to Polokwane.

He alleged that while on the way, the two suspects hijacked him at gunpoint and that later on the same day, he found his vehicle on the R37 in Westenburg, without a gearbox.

However, after investigations, police were led to a car clinic in Lebowakgomo where the owner of the scrap yard revealed that the man had requested the service of a tow truck after his car broke down because of gearbox failure.

“It was discovered that the suspect was driven by his driver when the vehicle broke down and he paid 50% of the money for the service of his gearbox, and it was stolen. Later on, the suspect changed the tune to confirm that the carjacking never took place and he was arrested for furnishing false information,” a police statement read.

Acting provincial commissioner, Maj-Gen Samuel Manala condemned the act and said it was a waste of the state's resources.

“These types of false cases stretch the resources unnecessarily and, in the process, the most deserving complaints are denied the opportunity to be attended to promptly,” he said.

The pastor appeared before the Polokwane magistrate's court on Monday on a charge of furnishing false information to the police.

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