UPDATE: Man taken to hospital after hiding on CBD rooftop

The crowd cheered as a man was taken down from a rooftop in the Benoni CBD on Thursday, November 26.

Barbed wire is removed to clear a path for a man who was allegedly hiding from robbers, on a rooftop in the Benoni CBD. For safety reasons, descending via the ladder was abandoned and a cherry picker was brought in.

The man, who allegedly hid from robbers on the rooftop, was taken to Tambo Memorial Hospital, in Boksburg, in a police van.

It was previously believed he had threatened to jump from the rooftop, but the firefighters who brought him down told the City Times he wanted to hide from robbers who had assaulted him earlier the morning.

He was taken down from the rooftop at around 11.30am.

Benoni SAPS spokesperson Const Zunickha Essakjee said no case of robbery in the surrounding area had been opened on the day.

“The man has not been arrested, but was escorted to the hospital by police, for his own safety,” said Essakjee.

“At this stage, we cannot confirm whether or not it was a suicide attempt.”

Before the fire fighters could bring the individual down via a ladder, he panicked and, for safety reasons, they brought in a truck-mounted cherry picker to bring him down.

“He panicked when he saw the police negotiator, thinking he would be arrested,” said Gavin Motaung, one of the firefighters who brought him down.

“He struggled a bit, but we held him back and calmed him down.”