Constable Thabo Malatji, the communications officer for the Hillbrow Cluster, said 12 men entered a shop to rob the business owner.
“The business owner and his two brothers fought with the robbers. The robbers opened fire, wounding the two brothers,” said Const Malatji.
A business owner, who did not want his name published, said he was helping a customer just outside his store when he saw some people run out of a shop.
“I heard gunshots. I pushed the customer into my shop and we locked ourselves in. When the gunshots stopped, I opened the door. But then we heard more gunshots outside the building. We were all scared and did not know what was going on,” he said.
Const Malatji said the robbers fled the centre in a Mercedes Vito. The driver of the getaway car collided with a BMW outside the centre.
“They saw the police approaching. There was a shootout between the police and robbers. The robbers then hijacked a silver Toyota Avanza and a silver Peugeot. The men who were shot and injured were rushed to hospital,” he said.
Another business owner, who wanted to remain anonymous, said this is not the first incident at Oriental City and he is concerned not only for his safety, but the safety of other business owners and customers.
“There was an incident three months ago. Shops are regularly broken into at night. Management is not taking everyone’s safety seriously. They need proper security,” he said.
Mr Jonathan Qin, the managing director of Keypunch Properties which owns Oriental City, said security measures are in place at the centre.
“The problem is that some of the Chinese business owners carry large sums of cash. We constantly warn them not to do so but they do not listen. The business owners and management are part of an association where issues such as security are discussed. Everyone agreed on the security currently in place. We will have another meeting to discuss security and safety. The robbery was clearly organised. They also forced the security guards to open the gates. I hope that after this incident, shop owners stop carrying large sums of cash while at work,” said Mr Qin.
