CIT guard and teenager killed in robbery

A cash-in-transit (CIT) guard and a teenage boy (17) were fatally shot during an armed robbery in the KwaSkhemelele Shopping Centre in Manguzi on Monday.

Fidelity guard Bheki Nkosi was opening a portable ATM to load cash when two unknown gunmen approached him.

A police source explained that Nkosi put the cash box down as he opened the ATM when the suspects approached him.

“Without a word, one suspect opened fire towards him and hit him in the head. They took a box full of cash and ran away. While these two men were fleeing the area, they met with Thabiso Tembe (17) and shot him in the head too.

“They ran down the gravel road and a brown Almera getaway vehicle followed them before stopping. Both [men got] into the car and it sped away,” said the source.

Tembe was in Grade 11 at Nodineka High School in uMhlabuyalingana. He is the second bystander to be killed in a CIT robbery.

Last Tuesday, Mzingazi Primary School teacher Bonisiwe Maphumulo was fatally shot during a failed CIT robbery in the Mzingazi area.

Maphumulo unknowingly drove into an active crime scene.

uMkhanyakude Cluster police spokesperson Captain Justice Hlabisa said armed robbery and two murder cases were registered at Manguzi SAPS for further investigation.

“When police arrived at the scene, they found the deceased lying on his back with his service pistol still in his holster on his chest. He had one gunshot wound to the head. He was declared deceased at the scene.”

“A teenage boy was found with a gunshot wound to the head and was also declared dead at the scene. Two empty 9mm cartridges were found. No arrest has yet been made,” said Hlabisa.

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