They came in, telling the old man that they were working for the power utility before disappearing with his R500.
Two men, one aged 39 and the other 44, will remain in jail after they were denied bail following their arrest for allegedly robbing an elderly man at his home on Wednesday.
Cops said the two allegedly impersonated Eskom employees and went into a house of the 77 year old man at the Siyathemba township, Balfour in Mpumalanga and told the old man they were there to check electricity meter boxes.
After checking the meter box, they allegedly told the elderly man that he had fiddled with it and demanded R500 from him.
“He told them he had no money,” said police spokesman Sergeant Gerald Sedibe.
“And they threatened to remove the meter box if they did not receive the cash they wanted.
“He then went to his neighbours to ask for help and they accompanied him and when they arrived [back] at the house they also discovered that the two helped themselves to groceries and a cellphone before fleeing the scene”.
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Cops and other community members were alerted about the incident.
The suspects were later arrested by the community members who handed them over to police for further detention.
They face charges of house robbery.
Their case at the Balfour Magistrates Court was postponed to 30 March 2017 for further investigation.
Meanwhile, provincial police boss Lieutenant-General Mondli Zuma applauded the community members for arresting and handing the suspects to the police without taking the law into their own hands.
He also warned them to be attentive and not fall victims of scams such as this.
(edited by BM)
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