Christmas came early for passers-by in Sebokeng, Gauteng, when a cash-in-transit heist (CIT) resulted in a money-free-for-all yesterday.

The well-executed CIT robbery played out at around 17:30 at the four-way stop at the R54 and Moshoeshoe Road intersection when a group of robbers used a Mercedes-Benz to force a cash van off the road, before bombing it.

The robbers are believed to have made off with leather bags full of cash. They left behind the smashed Mercedes Benz, which went up in flames alongside the van, and fled in several other cars.

The raging fire did not deter the passengers of passing taxis from jumping out and scrambling to pick up as much of the strewn left-over cash as they could.

Videos of the chaotic scene spread across social media. They show a flock of people snatching up the notes against a backdrop of orange flames and billowing black smoke.

When Sedibeng Ster arrived on the scene, police visibility was high and firemen were extinguishing the flames.

Gauteng provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo says that the police have launched a manhunt for the suspects. He says an undisclosed amount of cash was taken.

Masondo says that a truck driver who drove by when the robbery unfolded was shot in his hand and had to be taken to a healthcare facility for treatment.

“The security guards were not injured,” he concludes.