Students allegedly robbed at gunpoint at student housing in Mbombela
A case of house robbery is being investigated after students were allegedly threatened at gunpoint by several suspects at a student establishment.
Six suspects, some of them armed, allegedly threatened students at gunpoint at a student residence in Giraffe Street, Ext 5, before allegedly forcing them to undress, stealing the victims’ valuables and fleeing the scene on Sunday April 16.
Nelspruit Police Station spokesperson Captain Zandile Gqawa said when the robbers entered the accommodation, they threatened the students with firearms and instructed them to move to the living room area where they demanded the victims to undress.
“The suspects took some laptops, cellphones and clothes. They loaded the items into an Isuzu double cab, belonging to a visitor at the house, and drove off,” said Gqawa.
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“The double cab was later recovered in Pienaar.”
Techno Security’s operational manager, Marelize Burger, said while the robbery was in progress, one of the residents managed to run from the property to a nearby guest house, which is a client of the security company.
She said someone in the guest house pressed the panic button, sending a call for help to Techno Security just after 19:00.
“An armed reaction officer was dispatched and on his arrival immediately called for backup.”
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Burger said she arrived at the accommodation with another reaction unit. Other local security companies arrived shortly after.
“Information from the scene indicated there had been about 18 students in the house when the robbery occurred, but this figure could not be confirmed as some of the victims had reportedly left the scene after the incident,” Burger said.
John Meintjies of ACS Spartan Security and chairperson of the Nelspruit CPF said local security companies kept a presence in the area for the rest of the night.
* This article’s headline previously read: “Students allegedly robbed at gunpoint at Mbombela student accommodation”. Lowvelder has since been approached by the owner of an establishment called Mbombela Student Accommodation. The newspaper can confirm that the incident did not take place there, and that the headline referred to student accommodation situated in Mbombela.
