Business robbed of R100 thousand worth of goods
She was left in the store room as the two males ransacked the establishment before fleeing
With the growing trend in business robberies, owners are left with the baffling question of whether they are just a coincidence, or targeted attacks.
For Purple Vine, in extension eight, this threat became a reality on the morning of Thursday, May 30.
*Thulisile Nkosi, an employee at Purple Vine, made her way to the salon, as she does every morning, not expecting the day to pan out any different.
“It was just after 07:30, I got off the taxi and opened the shop,” she recounted, “I got in and placed my bags by my station before going to the back to switch on the lights. When I came out of the storeroom they were already inside. They asked for my phone and money. I told them there was no money in the store, but they did not believe me. They took out a gun, tied me up and locked me in the store room,” Nkosi elaborated.
She explained that her attackers were two males who were wearing caps and ‘hoodies’ to conceal their faces.
She was left in the store room as the two males ransacked the establishment before fleeing.
They took Peruvian hair extensions, packaging equipment, uniforms, money and a cellphone – amounting to an estimated gross value of R100 000.
Kabelo Morudu, who is the owner of Purple Vine, told WITBANK NEWS that the incident perplexed them.
Morudu, who also runs the panel beating workshop behind the salon, said that the time at which the incident occurred worried them.
“We have an alarm system because the assumption is that such crimes happen at night, but they waited for her to open the shop and disconnect the alarm system before they came in; and that’s what makes it scary. We could not understand how even the guys who work in the workshop at the back did not think to check on Nkosi when they heard sounds… they thought she was singing,” he explained.
Morudu said that he will not point fingers, but that they have since upgraded their security.
Nkosi said the suspects were dressed in a ‘hoodie’ and cap to conceal their faces and communicated using Zulu.
The investigation into the robbery is still underway.
*Thulisile Nkosi’s name was changed to protect her identity.
