Shop attendants in I’langa Mall robbed at gunpoint

MBOMBELA – Numerous coins of an undisclosed value were stolen in broad daylight when three suspects robbed The Scoin Shop at I’langa Mall on Sunday.

An eyewitness recalled how three armed suspects entered the shop around midday, pretending to be customers, before holding the employees at gunpoint. This was the weekend’s second incident at I’langa.

On Saturday morning, before the centre opened, an unknown number of suspects broke into Mopani Pharmacy. According to the centre’s management, they only stole a bottle of perfume before fleeing the scene. “We do not believe that the two incidents are connected,” they said.

According to police spokesman Capt Dawie Pretorius, one suspect was keeping a lookout outside The Scoin Shop, while the other two were pretending to look at the coins that were on display.

They enquired about a certain item, and the shop assistant asked if they were going to pay cash or with a card. The suspect pretended to take either one from his backpack, when he pulled out a gun.

At gunpoint, the suspect threatened the shop assistants and forced them to open the safe. After filling the backpack with valuables from the safe, the robbers continued to raid the display cases.

Another witness, who was elsewhere in the shopping centre, remembered how the three suspects fled past her shortly after the robbery.

“One of the shop assistants was in a complete state of panic,” the witness said. According to the mall’s management, despite the fact that the shop assistants were very traumatised, they were just glad that no one got hurt.

Pretorius added that the police were busy with an investigation and called upon any witnesses to come forward. “We are currently looking for a grey coloured BMW, believed to have been the getaway vehicle,” Pretorius said. “We also believe that there might be a fourth suspect who was the driver of the vehicle.”

“From what we can see on the CCTV footage, the one suspect (the gunman) was wearing grey trousers with a light blue shirt and the other black trousers and a red shirt. At this stage, we cannot disclose how much money the items are worth.”

“From the centre’s management, we would like to thank everyone, especially the community, for their cooperation in the regard,” a representative of I’langa Mall, said.

She concluded that their security was completely up to standard and said the robbery was an unfortunate incident.