One moment Sukumbuzo Mashele was driving down the R38 with his friends. The next, time stood still when he stared down the barrel of a loaded assault rifle during a cash-in-transit heist.

A week later, Mashele still recalls the harrowing incident which he says will never be erased from his memory. The incident involving 12 suspects, that can only be described as well-orchestrated, occurred last Friday around 09:00.

ALSO READ: Driver of CIT vehicle shot during robbery on R38 According to a source who responded to the scene, two vehicles, a G4S cash-in-transit vehicle and a back-up vehicle, were travelling in the direction of eManzana on the R38 when the latter was immobilised in a hail of bullets after the marksman shot out all its tyres. The occupants escaped unscathed.

The suspects then approached the CIT vehicle and opened fire, hitting the driver. It is alleged that the occupants of the CIT vehicle returned fire, possibly hitting one of the suspects.

The driver, a 42-year-old, was later identified as Jerry Madonsela. He died on his way to hospital shortly after the incident. He will be buried on Sunday at his parental home in Matsulu. Tributes have been pouring to his family. Night revivals led by Ps Rudolf Mahlake of Word of Life Ministries have been continuing at his family’s home in Msholozi Section C. A funeral service will be held at Matsulu Community Hall on Sunday morning.

After using explosives to gain access to cash inside the vehicle, the suspects approached Mashele and his friends at gunpoint. He said he was driving his Toyota Avanza when they were suddenly forced to a halt by a man wearing full security uniform, carrying a rifle that looked like an AK-47.

“He pointed the gun at us and forced us to stop. I stopped the car and within a blink of an eye there was a Toyota Fortuner in front of us. The man with the gun ordering us to step out of the car,” he said.

They were helping a wounded suspect, believed to be the same man who was shot when the CIT occupants returned fire.

“He ordered us to lay on the ground,” he said, and fearing for their lives, they cooperated. “The suspects carried the wounded suspect into my car and the next moment the Fortuner was on fire,” he said. He is still trying to come to terms with what happened, which to him, felt like “a movie was playing” in front of him and his friends. “I wish I could push a button and erase the movie from my memory,” he said.