JOHANNESBURG SOUTH – Two young men robbed six women of their jewellery, hand bags, cellphones and R10 000 in a church at gunpoint, around 10:00 on Monday March 2.
Church committee members and a caretaker of the The Invana Trinity Methodist church, at the corner of Church and Bishop streets in Turffontein, were having a meeting when two men carrying a box asked to be allowed onto the premises of the church as they had brought in donations for the needy.
“They said they were carrying fruit and canned food. I asked for their names and they did not say anything. But because it a church you do not suspect anything. I walked with one of the men to a room, where he was supposed to put down the box. Seconds later, I felt a gun on my neck and was told this is actually a robbery,” said the committee member who opened the gate.
“He asked for a safe and I told him we do not have a safe. When the caretaker came to the room where I was, she saw the gun pointed at me and just kneeled down as she was frightened.
The robbers went to a room where the church’s money was counted and they took all of it from the ladies.
“This must be a warning to churches; they must be on guard and be able to identifying strangers who might have just come to observe how a church operates,” said another committee member, who had a gun held to her stomach when she walked in to find members of her church being robbed.
The ladies, who asked to remain anonymous, said they are disgusted at this crime, because a church is a place healing and peace.
