“They fired shots in every direction,” one man said.
“I told him to get down, why didn’t he get down?” another man murmured sitting down, with shaking hands running through his hair.
Chaos followed the shootout on Tuesday morning April 8 near Klipfontein Checkers at the Sanlam Centre, which resulted in two deaths and one serious injury.
Suspected robbers, police, sector police and security guards were involved in the gunfight which was reported, by community members on scene, to have lasted for several minutes.
According to Capt Eddie Hall, spokesperson for Witbank SAPS, an unknown number of suspects (more than 10) were involved. The suspects were allegedly stationed in strategic places in and around the shopping centre where it seemed they planned to rob a cash in transit guard.
“A few of the suspects armed with handheld firearms, were waiting for the guard inside the shopping centre where he (the guard) was shot and killed,” said Capt Hall a few hours after the incident.
The suspects, who grabbed the money case which the guard was carrying, did not get far before a security mechanism caused the case to explode.
“Police officers who were on duty and had been patrolling the area, heard the gunshot inside the centre and went to investigate,” Capt Hall stated further.
Police were met by several other suspects waiting outside the centre. Chaos erupted as bullets flew across the parking area.
Several car guards, who were on the scene at the time, rushed away to find shelter against the bullet hailstorm.
“We heard the shots and, we were here just inside the centre,” Ms Sanet Beech and Mr Marius van Rooyen recalled shakily moments after the incident.
The two siblings along with their brother Johan van Rooyen were reportedly waiting near the side entrance, when the armed robbers inside the centre were making their escape.
Van Rooyen remembers how he shouted to his brother, Johan, to get down on the ground, when he saw armed men running towards them.
“He didn’t listen. Why didn’t he get down?” Van Rooyen muttered distractedly. Both he and his sister were distraught after witnessing their brother getting shot in the thigh/hip.
After the robbers made their escape, with the police and security hot in pursuit, ambulance services arrived to transport the injured Van Rooyen to hospital, along with several other people and witnesses on the scene who required treatment for shock.
The cash in transit guard, Charl Niemand, who was shot during the robbery died on scene.
Capt Hall reported that the police had followed three get-away vehicles used by the suspects to flee the scene.
More shots were fired at two of the vehicles, a Corsa bakkie and Toyota Yaris.
One of the suspected robbers was shot and fatally wounded in Albertyn Street not far from the shopping centre. The other suspects left behind the Corsa and Toyota and fled the scene in a Quantum minibus.
“Thanks to the public’s cooperation we later managed to arrest one of the suspects,” Capt Hall said that the suspect was recognised by members of the community at the crime scene near the Sanlam Centre, where he was allegedly standing among the crowd.
The body of the suspect, who was shot in Albertyn Street, was only removed from scene much later at about 17:30, after thorough forensic investigations.
Niemand will be sorely missed by his family, friends and all who knew him.
*The armed robbery was similar to the robbery at Saveways Crescent earlier this year on January 28, when two robbers and a civilian were shot and killed near Checkers. This also occurred after several robbers targeted guards in a cash-in-transit van.
To see the photos click here
Footage of the robbery
