The Middelburg Magistrate’s Court was the first target when three armed men wearing balaclava’s overpowered security guards and construction workers between 21:00 and 22:00.

The robbers took the men to a bathroom next to regional courtroom F where they were tied up with handcuffs, clothing and shoelaces.

They used a grinder to break open a safe in the front office of the court building. Tables and furniture which were in the process of being assembled by the workers, were used by the robbers to block of any light made by the sparks whilst they were busy grinding open the safe.

According to information from a trusted source, the thieves targeted the wrong safe, which only contained documents. They fled after realising their mistake, taking with them a firearm they took from one of the security guards.

Shortly after 22:00 on the same night, police was alerted of a possible tampering at the Absa ATM situated in the Oaks Centre on the corner of SADC- and Lilian Ngoyi Street.

Two police reservists visited the premises and found that the roll-door on the side of Lilian Ngoyi Street was half opened. They saw a man peeking around a corner when they shone their flashlights into the building and called for backup.

Chaos erupted as suspects could be seen scrambling up the stairs to the first floor parking lot.

An estimated 14 vehicles, including members of the Community Policing Forum and Middelburg 911, rushed to the scene to render assistance.

One suspect fell metres from a group of men searching the parking area on the first floor with flashlights. It seems that he was attempting to slide down a gutter, which gave way, causing him to fall and break his arm.

Another alleged burglar was found when someone jumped over a wall to look for suspects and landed on one. Yet another suspect was caught when members of the police who rent the first floor offices, were notified of the incident and came to make sure their offices were unharmed. It seems that the suspect managed to climb down onto a balcony from the roof from where he broke open a window and hid in one of the offices. He was discovered when police sweeped the offices.

It is suspected that the men gained access to the building via a side-door where after they overpowered two security guards and tied them up in their guard room.

The burglars had state of the art equipment including a battery pack, jack hammer and grinders. They did not manage to get to the cash in the ATM before they were discovered but they did cause extensive damage to the machine.

Wonderboy Buthelezi (27), Ernest Masemola (27), Slindelo Mbanjwa (31), Petrus Motaung (30), Xolani Ndlovu (34), Mbangeni Mgcobo (33), Moshuwa Thiphe (30) and Sytrian Thwala (31) all reside in Mhluzi. Their case was placed on the Middelburg courtroll for Monday where they face a charge of malicious damage to property. The outcome of their case was not known at the time of going to press.

An eyewitness told how the robbers, all but the one who broke his arm, smirked arrogantly at bystanders as they were led into the charge office after the incident.