Mr Stoney Steenkamp, a retired police colonel, was shot by armed robbers.
The shooting took place on August 11 at Highland Mews, in front of Clicks.
Walking towards the north-western entrance of Highland Mews all one could see was the blue and yellow markings of police vehicles, as police cordoned off the road with orange cones.
Moments later the doors which were once barred opened, and paramedics from Langamed Emergency Management Services came walking out pushing a self loading stretcher along. Steenkamp lay on it in a stable state, smiling all the while, knowing he had survived the ordeal of being shot at least three times.
Every Monday morning Steenkamp would make his way from the church to bank the church’s money. That Monday, he parked his car at the north-eastern entrance and walked into Highland Mews. As he approached the entrance to Clicks two men approached him.
“One was short, the other tall, one had a red sweater and the other wore a yellow one, both had guns,” said one of the stall owners who witnessed the shooting.
The robbers drew their guns and the stall owner immediately lay on the floor in fear of her life.
“I could see and hear everything, one of the men demanded that the old man hand over the bag but he refused, they began shooting off shots to scare the old man but he didn’t budge,” continued the stall owner.
Three warning shots were fired at Steenkamp’s feet. The robbers grew tired of Steenkamp’s refusal to hand over the bag and shot him three times.
Another witness, known as Nico, was in Musica at the time. When he walked out he heard the gunshots and quickly backtracked, he saw the two robbers run past the front of the store and made his way out to offer help to Steenkamp who stood in the doorway of Clicks, bleeding from his wounds.
At the time of the shooting the Sister working at the clinic in Clicks overheard the gunshots and made her way to the front of the store where she met Nico. The two of them helped move Steenkamp to the clinic.
“I called the ambulance and we did what we could to stop the heavy bleeding from his leg,” said the Sister.
She added that he looked pale and she kept reassuring him that everything would be fine.
“They shot him three times, there was one shot in his right foot, it went straight through. They also shot him in the upper left thigh, the bullet exited in his lower thigh and the last shot was fired into his upper left calf,” said Nico.
Another witness strongly believes that the robbers were given the information that Steenkamp would be banking money that morning.
The robbers fled the scene in what was believed to be an Audi A4.
“It is a sad incident and we don’t want our clients to be fearful, we are glad he is okay,” said Ms Annamrie Janse van Vuuren, Highland Mews management.
Forensics, who were on scene, confirmed that six shots were fired. The area was tidied up and the bloodied floors disinfected and mopped clean, all the while one of the staff members of Clicks added that Steenkamp was smiling as he was being pushed out towards the ambulance.
Steenkamp was transported to Life Cosmos Hospital where he underwent a CT scan on Tuesday and his surgery was planned for Thursday. Despite his injuries Steenkamp is in good spirits and good condition.
*In an armed robbery on June 3, a man was on his way to deposit a sum of money at a bank in Saveways Crescent Shopping Centre. He too was shot in the leg by two men, who fled in an Audi A4 that has matching licence plates to the Audi A4 used in the robbery in Highland Mews. Police believe the two suspects are using the same modus operandi.
*Nico and other witnesses’ names were withheld to protect their identities.
