TV crew held at gunpoint in Pretoria east, cops hot on the heels of armed robbers

Police have been tasked with finding and arresting the people believed to be behind the armed robbery of a prominent TV news channel crew in Mamelodi East on Wednesday, Rekord East reports.

A task team was established to gather information and to arrest the suspects, according to police.

Spokesperson Kay Makhubele said eNCA’s First Take anchor Xoli Mngambi, producer Koketso Dlongolo and cameramen Mbudzeni Bulasigobo, and Gift Shabalala were robbed of their equipment at gunpoint while they were filming an insert at a private clinic in Mamelodi Gardens’s extension two.

1/2[ROBBED at GUNPOINT]
This is what’s left of our equipment (2 news cameras and a tripod gone) after being robbed at gunpoint in #MamelodiEast while filming a feature this afternoon. A short video of the car that the 3 gun-wielding robbers were traveling in to follow… #Crime pic.twitter.com/00igwVpF9a

— Xoli Mngambi (@XoliMngambi) February 19, 2020

Makhubele said the TV crew were interviewing one of the senior citizens at the clinic when the gun-wielding robbers arrived.

“One of them, armed with a firearm, entered and held the camera crew at gunpoint,” he said.

The equipment the robbers got away with included two cameras, two sound bags and a tripod.

2/2 [ROBBED at GUNPOINT] The 3 robbers fled in this grey VW Polo with no registration plates. A case has been opened at the Mamelodi East Police Station. #Crime #MamelodiEast pic.twitter.com/L90fGgLy5b

— Xoli Mngambi (@XoliMngambi) February 19, 2020

The channel’s spokesperson Lerato Maboi said the crew remained “safe and unharmed” despite the robbery.

“The channel takes this matter seriously and will be assisting the staff members with trauma counselling,” she said.

Taking to Twitter after the ordeal, Mngambi thanked the social media platform’s users for their messages of support.

THANK YOU: all for the messages of support after being robbed in #Mamelodi today. The @eNCA team and our interviewees were left shaken as none of us had ever had a gun swung in our faces like that. #Crime is a big problem in our country. We’re thankful that we were not harmed.

— Xoli Mngambi (@XoliMngambi) February 19, 2020