MBOMBELA – A security guard was stabbed so many times on Sunday that no one realised he had also been shot during an armed robbery.
Hi-Tech Guard, Mr Simon Manzini (33) was brutally attacked by three armed men who shot and stabbed him in an attempt to rob a business in the city in the early hours of the morning.
Hi-Tech Guards Nelspruit area manager, Mr Corné Linde said Manzini had been guarding the premises of a local business in the city. “He fought back bravely and was stabbed 13 times with a knife. His left arm was broken and he was shot in the right arm,” he said.
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Linde said there was so much blood that Manzini and the paramedic who treated him on the scene at first did not realise he had been shot. “The doctor pointed the gunshot wound on his left arm out to him later,” he said.
Manzini told Lowvelder he was on duty at the security office on the premises, when the three suspects entered at around 00:30. “The one man pointed a gun at me and demanded I give him the keys to the safe. They wanted money,” he said. Manzini said he told the robbers he did not have keys.
“The one man then pointed the gun at me again and I knew he was going to shoot me so I raised my arm. They all then started beating me and stabbing me repeatedly.”
Manzini said he fought back in an attempt to save his life. “I thought I was going to die.”
He was screaming in pain and for help when his attackers fled the scene. A cleaner who was in a nearby building heard him and came to his aid. “He hid me in a truck as we thought the suspects could still be on the premises,” Manzini said.
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The men got away with only his cellphone after his ordeal. “I thought of my fiancée a lot. I still have so much to live for,” he said. Linde said the cleaner called another guard who was patrolling the area. “The ambulance was sent out to the scene immediately. I was there after the incident occurred. He had lost a lot of blood, it was horrific.”
Manzini is now in a stable condition in a private hospital. Linde said he would be receiving trauma counselling for his ordeal.
According to police spokesman, Capt Dawie Pretorius, a case of armed robbery has been opened and investigations are continuing. He confirmed that they are looking for the suspects.
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