Chaos erupted at Doppio Zero restaurant in Blue Hills shopping centre on 27 November when four armed men stormed in and robbed the place and its patrons of money and valuables.
CEO of Mvula Trust, Silas Mbedzi had taken his nephew with his girlfriend out for supper on that fateful night. He said they had just called the waiter to order dessert when they noticed him walking backwards into the restaurant.
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“That’s when I noticed that there was a man holding a gun against the waiter’s stomach, pushing him back. The armed man signalled me with a finger to shut up. I saw another one also holding a gun running to the till. Immediately, the one in front of us ordered everyone to lie on the floor but I was frozen in shock and didn’t. He pointed the gun at me, his finger was on the trigger and ordered me to also lie down,” said Mbedzi.
The shaken witness said the robbers demanded car keys, wallets, jewellery and cellphones from the patrons. “While people were handing over their valuables to them. One of the robbers approached a man who was with his wife and two kids under the age of nine. The robber took the wife’s necklace she was wearing and while he was about to take her ring the woman started screaming. That’s when the man stood up, protested, and the robbers fled the scene,” added Mbedzi.
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He said he lay on top of his cellphone and wallet and was fortunate that the robbers didn’t demand them from him. “Most women were crying and the men were in disbelief. It was like something out of this world.
“The one that was close to us was wearing black pants and T-shirt with a brown hat. He had a scar on his right cheek and was about 1.2 meters tall.”
One of the founding members of Doppio Zero, Paul Christie said they were shocked about the incident and were trying to get the landlord to put more security in the centre.
Blue Hills centre manager Vanessa Loots said security would be intensified at the mall. “The security guards were on their toes during the robbery and they are the ones that pressed the panic button to call the police. We will also be tightening security during the festive season,” she said.
Spokesperson for Midrand Police Station, Sergeant Matome Tlamela said the police are looking for the suspects who were driving two Corollas with tinted windows, one silver and one black, with unknown registration numbers.
Details: Anyone with information can contact the police on 011 347 1600.
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