A fish seller was arrested for perjury after allegedly fabricating a story about an armed robbery at his Khayelitsha home, Western Cape police said on Tuesday.

Andiswa Cubeni, 27, appeared in the Khayelitsha Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, Captain Frederick van Wyk confirmed.

According to a statement, Cubeni opened a case of house robbery at the Harare police station on October 31.

He alleged that there was a knock on his door in the middle of the night.

When he opened up, he saw a man with a firearm and two accomplices.

He apparently gave over R7 000 in cash, his flat screen TV and a cellphone.

Detectives interviewed him on Saturday and found him to be “extremely nervous” and unable to answer certain questions.

“The complainant declared that he is in financial distress and sold fish to survive,” the statement read.

“However he used the money of these sales and fabricated the armed robbery scenario in the hopes he need not repay his employer.”

He worked for a fishing company in Paarden Eiland. News24