JOHANNESBURG (Sapa) - The police on Friday accused the media of sensationalising the theft of money from the Colombian soccer team's hotel room.

"It must be emphasised that the crime that was allegedly committed was the minor offence of 'theft', which entails the removal of the victim's property without his or her consent and without the use of violence," said police spokesman Sally De Beer.

"Media reports that the team members were 'robbed' are therefore completely incorrect as a robbery involves the use of violence or threats of violence, usually with a weapon, to overcome any resistance on the part of a victim who is present during the commission of the crime," she said.

Describing the incident as "isolated", De Beer said it was not linked to the 2010 Fifa World Cup, had been dealt with efficiently, and "should not be sensationalised in an attempt to tarnish this wonderful tournament which has South Africa abuzz with excitement".

Colombian soccer team members returned from a training session on Thursday to find an undisclosed amount of money had been stolen from their rooms.

The Colombians went on to lose 1-2 to South Africa in a friendly at Soccer City, in Soweto, on Thursday night.

De Beer said police began investigating after receiving an affidavit from the Colombian team's manager.

"It was established that the safes in the rooms were not utilised and that during the team's absence between 3.30pm and 6.30pm, when they had a training session, only three persons had access to their hotel rooms," said De Beer.

"These three individuals were cleaning staff personnel and they were arrested on suspicion of theft."

The people arrested were two cleaning women and their supervisor. Charges against the supervisor were later dropped because of insufficient evidence.

"We would like to take this opportunity to urge all visitors to please  look after their own valuables and make use of safes provided in hotel rooms," Southern Sun Hotel managing director Graham Wood said in a statement on Friday.

"The alleged theft incident at the Southern Sun Hyde Park is still under investigation and we are working closely with the police, he said.

"This incident has demonstrated that we are well prepared and our systems and process are in place to deal with incidences as and when they occur." 

Jeneath Mashimbyi, 29 and Ayanda Maseko, 21, appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on Thursday. The case was postponed until June 3 for a bail application.

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