Pretoria pensioners traumatised as robbers take cars, jewellery, cash
The police had a shoot-out with suspects and one was arrested.
Fifty-six pensioners were left traumatised after a gang of robbers ambushed them at Pretoria games club recently and stole their jewellery, cash and vehicles.
Club committee member, Suzanne Weide (76), said the 56 pensioners were playing board games on what they thought was a relaxed Friday afternoon when six men stormed into the Gauteng North bridge club in Menlo Park around 14:00 on September 30 and robbed them.
“The first thing I remember are the frantic screams of the woman who helps us, she was busy making tea when the robbers walked in with guns.
“She screamed and ran to the door trying to keep them out by attempting to lock the door but they overpowered her and stormed in,” Weide said.
Weide said the terrified pensioners, most of them older than 70 years, ran to the back of the open-space room wherein they were playing games, “they [robbers] forced us to all sit down on the floor”.
“They grabbed handbags, cut some people’s jewellery from their arms and neck, forced off rings and took money.
“One lady was robbed of her very expensive ring, it was an heirloom and had a lot of personal value to her.
“They also found car keys in some of the handbags and passed these to the guys who were outside [also robbers]. They stole two cars.”
One of the stolen cars had a tracker.
“The car owner had hidden her phone and was able to activate the tracker when the robbers left.
“This helped the police.”
Weide said the elderly were fearful and kept the gates locked after the ordeal.
“It was very traumatic. Some people just started crying after being robbed.
“I was so scared that I could not even paint the picture of the man that kneeled down in front of me, took my bag and went through it. The fear was overwhelming.”
The pensioners also lost important documents such as IDs, passports and bank cards.
“I believe that this was a planned robbery and was not just an opportunistic crime,” Weide said.
Advocate Russell Beaton of the Pretoria Bar was also a victim of the robbery, R1 500 he had drawn to pay for gardening services was stolen from him.
“I had hidden my phone and car key when one of the armed men came to me and asked where my phone was and I told him that it was in the car. He kept looking and I was scared that he would find it, so I gave him the R1 500.
“He took my wallet and took some of the cash in it and I asked him to return it because there is nothing he can do with my cards, he said politely ‘yes’ and returned it.
“The only aggressive behaviour I had seen aside from them being armed was that they pushed one woman to the ground.”
Annette Smith said she was lucky that the robbers could not remove her diamond gold ring from her finger.
“One of them went out and came back with a cutter and by then I had taken the ring out and hidden it.”
She said the elderly were shaken, “one lady was really traumatised, when I saw her at the police station on Tuesday she was still shaking. She has Parkinson’s disease and the robbery really traumatised her.”
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo said one suspect was arrested in Nellmapius on the same day following a police chase and shoot-out.
“It was established that the car the suspect drove had been robbed from the bridge club.
“Police are searching for the suspects that are still at large and are on the lookout for the other stolen vehicle.”
Silverton police spokesperson Warrant-Officer Isaac Mculu said the 40-year-old suspect was cornered by police and security guards in Tshepo Street.
“Two suspects ran and we arrested one.”
Mculu said the police recovered cellphones taken from the elderly from the car, a silver Honda.
The 40-year-old was charged for business robbery, theft of the motor vehicle and attempted murder of police officers.
According to Brooklyn police station crime stats for April to June, robberies increased in the precinct by 7.3% with 117 cases reported.
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