Angry mob wreaks havoc to local business in Boltonia
The owner of the business said customers need not worry since the business was not the target to begin with.
It seems that a misunderstanding is the reason why a local business has suffered damage to the value of several million rand after an angry mob stormed its premises recently.
On Sunday, 5 March, it was business as usual for employees at the Factory Deli in Boltonia. At about 9.15am chaos erupted in the streets surrounding the business. A group of angry community members was on the hunt for a man who had allegedly raped a woman. The mob had been chasing the man all around Krugersdorp West.
An unknown man on a bicycle entered the deli to warn the employees of impending trouble heading their way. According to Armand Lombaard, son of the owner of the deli, they noticed about 200 people storming towards their premises and immediately locked the gates.
“What we did not realise was that when we closed our doors, the man slipped past us and hid in our fridge, inside the shop,” Lombaard (jnr) said.
The employees were unaware of why the mob was targeting their shop. The mob was armed with knifes, bricks, axes and other sharp objects and tried to gain entry to the shop, which they ultimately managed to do.
They then started searching for the suspect and began ransacking the shop.
“I tried to negotiate with them, and they seemed keen, but things did not go according to plan,” said the owner of the shop, Christo Lombaard.
In the meantime, the police, EPR Security, the Flying Squad and Sector 5 Community Policing Forum members arrived and tried to restore order. The mob later tried to set the building alight, but the police started firing rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.
“We managed to calm the situation in the area and also arrested four attackers for public violence,” police spokesperson Sergeant Tshepiso Mashale said.
Lombaard (snr) told the News that the damage done to his shop is astronomical and he will never fully recover from it.
Luckily none of his customers were injured in the incident. He thanked his loyal customers for all their support and said that he will continue to serve the community. He also encouraged them not to worry, as all is safe at his business since he was not the target to begin with.
But this was not the last of the mob. On Monday, 6 March, another group of unhappy community members arrived at the police station in Commissioner Street and demanded that the police make an active effort to end the criminal activities which have taken over their community.
Later the group and the police come to an agreement and no further unrest is expected.
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