The quiet town of Ga-Nala has become a hot spot for armed robberies after a second armed robbery within two weeks.
The incident happened early on Monday morning, November 30 at approximately 08:55 when the manager of a well-known shop and another employee were held up as they were carrying a large sum of money.
The men were on their way to the bank to bank the money after a busy weekend in Kriel Mega Mall.
They were surprised by five suspects, one of which was armed.
Constable Lindiwe Sibanyoni said the suspects told the men to lie down and hand over the money otherwise they would be shot.
Money in hand the suspects made a run for it.
What the suspects were unaware of is that police were patrolling in the area in unmarked vehicles and wore civilian normal clothes. It is believed that the police received a tip-off about the planned robbery.
As the suspects left the shopping centre police managed to shoot one suspect in the leg.
A shoot-out erupted when a Community Policing Forum member, who is kept anonymous, allegedly noticed an armed person in a vehicle and just started shooting.
This led to bullets flying between the police and the suspects.
Four of the suspects managed to escape in a white Volkswagen Golf G6 with no registration number plates.
It’s alleged that only some of the money was recovered and that one person was arrested as he had been shot.
WITBANK NEWS reported on the previous incident that happened on Tuesday, November 24 at 20:45 when police received information that there was a shootout in Mattews Street and that one person had been shot.
When the police arrived on the scene they found a suspect lying in a pool of blood.
The suspect was shot by a security guard, as he tried to rob a tuck shop.
It was later reported that the second armed suspect managed to run away from the scene.
The gun of the suspect who was shot was handed into the police station.
No further arrests have been made
