A violent group of armed men struck the Elijah Barayi mega housing complex construction site this week in a terrifying late-night raid.

The incident took place on April 29, when a 40-year-old night guard was sitting on duty at the site. At approximately 21:45, three masked men approached him, pointed firearms at his face, and demanded to know where the copper cables were kept. When the guard explained that he did not know because he only worked the night shift, the attackers struck him on the head with a gun and forced him to the ground, where they kicked him repeatedly.

Moments later, six more accomplices joined the suspects. Seven of the nine men carried handguns and spoke isiZulu with Sesotho accents. The robbers searched the area and found a second guard on patrol, whom they forced over to the first victim. The gang then used the guards’ own shoelaces to tie them up before stealing their cellphones, radios, and money.

While one robber kept watch over the guards, the remaining suspects broke open offices and storage containers on the premises. They loaded stolen equipment and diesel onto the guards’ Mahindra vehicle. The robbers used the stolen bakkie to transport their loot and made multiple trips to gather more goods from the site.

The security guards were still tied up when their supervisor arrived at the site. The supervisor helped untie them, and they immediately notified the police and the tracking company that their vehicle had been stolen. The stolen Mahindra was later found abandoned near one of the gates to the mega housing complex. It still contained some construction machinery and a water pump, and it appeared the robbers had transferred the rest of the stolen goods onto a different vehicle.

Police are currently investigating a case of business robbery, and no arrests have been made at this stage.