A night of laughs and a few drinks with friends quickly turned into a traumatic ordeal when between four and six armed men entered the White River Rugby Club in Mpumalanga late last night, and ordered all the patrons to get down on the floor.

The president of the White River Rugby Club, Pietman Rademeyer, says the robbery had occurred just after 23:00, and the robbers left at about midnight. He adds he received a call that a robbery had taken place and rushed over to find about 25 traumatised guests and staff.

“Everyone was crying when I arrived. Luckily no one was hurt, but everyone was very traumatised,” says Rademeyer.

He explains everyone had been enjoying themselves when the men, all armed with guns, suddenly entered the club. He adds one of them fired a shot into the air and ordered everyone in the room to lie down on the ground.

“The men stole wallets, bags, car keys, cellphones and money. One of the suspects kicked one of the guests. One of the bar ladies, who had started working there only two weeks ago, was thrown around a bit by the robbers and was slapped once or twice,” he says.

He adds the whole ordeal was estimated to have lasted about half an hour and the robbers fled the scene in one of the patrons’ vehicles – a silver Toyota Corolla.

Rademeyer says there were no rugby players in the club at the time, as they have a game in Malalane today. He explains when he arrived just after midnight, local security companies: iSecure, Divergent Ops, Hi-Tech, Blackwater Defence RSA, the White River Community Policing Forum and AfriForum were already there, helping to calm everyone down.

Meanwhile, efforts were being made to try and find the suspects and trace the stolen vehicle.

John Meintjes of Nelspruit Concerned Citizens said its members and the Fidelity Specialised Intervention Unit’s regional manager managed to recover the Corolla in a soccer field in Mgcobaneni, in the Masoyi area.

Some car keys and Sim cards were found in the vehicle.

Rademeyer says a case of armed robbery has been opened and that investigations are ongoing to find and arrest the suspects.

“Praise God that no one was injured seriously,” he adds.

Provincial police spokesperson Captain Magonseni Nkosi says he is still gathering information on the matter and would provide comment soon.

If you were present during the robbery and would like to provide more information to Lowvelder, please email chelsea@lowvelder.co.za.