Witnesses report about 20 suspects were involved in the heist, which left four people injured.
An Advertiser journalist was on her way home, to Delmas, when she was caught up in the commotion as several suspects, armed with rifles, blocked the road and threatened motorists to turn around.
She believes this was after the suspects had already gained entry to the cash-in-transit vehicle with the use of explosives.
According to Springs SAPS spokesperson Capt Johannes Ramphora two Audi A8s, a VW Golf 7, a Toyota Quantum and a bakkie were used to box a G4 armoured vehicle in before they shot the tyres out.
“This caused the driver of the armoured vehicle to lose control and the vehicle overturned and rolled down an embankment.
“The driver and two of his colleagues were injured in the accident.
“The suspects used explosives to gain entry to the back of the vehicle and the vault, taking an undisclosed amount of cash,” says Ramphora.
The suspects then approached the cars caught in the traffic jam.
Bradley Cloete (27) was on his way to Jet Park when he saw motorists reversing and making u-turns in front of him.
He attempted to reverse and do a u-turn to get away from the scene, when a white three series BMW stopped in front of him, blocking the road.
Cloete says the car contained four of the heist suspects, all armed.
While three got out of the car the driver stayed in the vehicle, pointing a pistol at Cloete.
One of the three men, armed with what he thought was an AK-47 (although he could not conclusively confirm this), approached him and opened the door of his bakkie.
He was then told to throw his keys out of the vehicle and to get out.
Cloete says the other two suspects were banging their guns on the passenger door of his car.
He got out of the vehicle and the BMW driver asked him to hand over his cellphone, which he did.
The three suspects then got into the BMW and drove towards the crime scene, about 30m away.
Cloete says he saw two white BMWs and a white Toyota taxi flee the scene.
When he walked towards the scene of the explosion he saw two cash-in-transit guards on the ground, wounded.
The two men and the driver were treated by paramedics from various emergency services and transported to a nearby hospital.
A fourth man, a motorist, was shot in the right leg when the suspects fired several shots and a bullet penetrated his car door, about 100m from the armoured vehicle.
He was also treated on scene and transported to hospital.
The SAPS Explosives Unit arrived and secured the scene.
Cloete told the Advertiser, before leaving the scene, his company cellphone had already been traced to Daveyton and as far as he was aware the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department were searching for the suspects.
At 10pm, when the Addie journalist left the scene, police were still investigating.
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