Allegedly on Sunday, May 11 at 12:30 Mr Itumeleng Maako was in his office, when he heard the sound of a baby crying. He went to see what was happening as his office door was closed. As Maako opened the door, he noticed an unknown man was standing by the till and he was armed with a firearm.
Maako tried to run away but before he could get away another unknown suspect grabbed him.
The suspect told Maako to get back behind the counter and to lie down with the rest of the staff members and customers along with the crying child.
While everyone was on the floor, they told everyone to hand over their cell phones. Then they took Maako back to the office where the safe keys were given to the suspects and they took the money.
Once they had what they wanted, they left the shop.“They did not hurt anyone and most of us are still in shock about the whole incident,” said Ms Busisiwe Klolobe a cashier.
An undisclosed amount of money was taken from the safe.
A cashier that was in the shop at the time contacted her husband who is a policeman from Witbank SAPS. She notified him that the shop had just been robbed and that he must come fetch her so that they can go look for them.
Once the policeman fetched his wife who was in a state of shock, he drove around the area.
Opposite Hoërskool Generaal Hertzog she identified one of the suspects; the policeman stopped his vehicle and confronted the man.
The suspect pulled out a firearm and as he did this, the policeman pulled out his firearm as well and shot the suspect in the stomach. The suspect was taken to Witbank Provincial Hospital where he is currently in ICU, recovering from his injury.
The Local Criminal Record Centrum visited the crime scene and an investigation on this robbery will be conducted by the police.
“This suspect can now be linked to another five business robberies in eMalahleni,” said Captain Eddie Hall, spokesperson from Witbank SAPS.
