Just two weeks after Choppies Superstore was robbed of a substantial amount of cash, ten men carrying assault rifles broke into the Riverwalk Shopping Centre.
They stole clothing from Edgars Active and Studio 88 at about 23:02 last Monday.
According to the communications manager of the Riverwalk, Ms Pascalina Makwela, the CCTV footage of that night showed a VW Polo approaching the centre on Rivier Street from James Moroka and parking near Entrance 4. It was immediately followed by a white Mazda Etude and a Mazda utility vehicle coming from the direction of the taxi rank.
‘An unidentified suspect got out of the Polo and walked towards the entrance. He was immediately joined by nine other suspects wearing caps and with their faces covered.
‘The footage shows two of the suspects patrolling the area with an automatic weapon in one hand and a pistol in the other while the others carried out an undisclosed amount of stock from Edgars Active and Studio 88,’ she said.
‘The Moorivier Armed Response and SAPS were immediately alerted but, upon their arrival, the suspects had already fled the scene. The alarms of both Studio 88 and Edgars were activated as soon as the premises were broken into but, by the time CSS Armed Response got there, the suspect had already left,’ she said.
Makwela says a case of theft has been opened at the Potchefstroom SAPS and investigations are underway.
The Potchefstroom SAPS spokesperson, Capt. Mvula Chaka confirmed the incident, saying both stores had opened cases of burglary at business premises. ‘Ten heavily armed males were seen in the video footage,’ he said.
He added that the complainants from both stores have reported that clothing, including jeans, T-shirts, shoes, sneakers and jewellery worth hundreds of thousands of rands were stolen from the stores.
According to a reliable source who spoke to the Herald, five of the robbers were black and five were white and, upon entering the shopping complex, they used a pick-axe and a cordless grinder.
The terrified cleaners were still inside the mall at the time of the incident but the security guards managed to get them to a place of safety. The source says the control room operator reacted appropriately and followed the correct procedures when the robbers broke in.
He says the robbers were in the mall for 88 seconds and the response teams missed them by moments, showing that the robbery was well orchestrated.
This armed robbery comes after hundreds of thousands of rands were stolen when Boxer and Choppies superstores were both targeted within the space of three weeks.
VIDEO: Armed robbery at Riverwalk
