A few employees and owners of local businesses here in eMalahleni found themselves stuck in life threatening situations when armed robbers appeared.
On Tuesday, October 16, a security guard was posted to patrol at the back of a local shopping centre. He was patrolling and eventually came across two suspicious looking African males.
“The men asked me why I wasn’t sleeping and before I could even answer one of them pulled out a gun,” the security guard explained.
“The two of them tied my hands with a rope and they took my radio and cell phone,” he further explained.
It is alleged that one of the suspects stayed with the victim while the other suspect went to a container that contained tools.
The security guard was supposed to report back within 30 minutes after patrolling and once his supervisor realised he hasn’t reported anything yet, he went to look for him.
“My supervisor found me and he untied my hands.”
The security guard and his supervisor then noticed that a container had been broken into and tools to the value of an undisclosed amount had been stolen.
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The following day, Wednesday, October 17, three business robberies occurred by two armed males.
A cashier was performing her duties as usual when at about 17:05 two males approached her. One of the suspects handed her a blue plastic bag and instructed her to fill it was cash. The other suspect pointed a firearm towards her. The woman was scared and therefore she obeyed their commands. After they received the cash that they demanded the suspects allegedly ran away. Police were dispatched and they are still investigating the case.
Later that night, at about 19:30 an employee was busy taking out rubbish to the back of the store when the security guard approached her.
“He told me that there were two men inside the shop trying to rob the shop,” the employee explained.
The employee and the security guard then decided not to enter the shop as they knew that the two suspects were armed.
It is alleged that while they were waiting outside they phoned the police. After a few minutes the suspects left the shop with an undisclosed amount of cash.
The last robbery occurred just after 20:00 on Wednesday, October 17. It is alleged than an employee was on duty busy serving customers when two males entered the shop. One of the men pretended to buy something and he handed money out to the employee. When she opened the till the other man pulled out a firearm and threatened to shoot if she doesn’t give them all of the cash. The suspects then left the premises and the employee contacted the police.
One wonders whether these robberies are all related and if they were demonstrated by the same two suspects.
Witbank police are investigating these cases and will do their best to ensure that these suspects are brought to the book.
