The past week has seen five different instances of armed robbery take place at five different business premises; that’s nearly an average of one business robbery per day in eMalahleni for the week.
On February 12 at about 17:45, a maroon Opel Kadett rolled up to Mr Bashir Farooqi’s shop just as he was preparing to close-up for the day.
Four men exited the Kadett, and one immediately approached Mr Farooqi – putting a gun to his stomach and demanding that he comply with their demands.
The four men entered the shop with Mr Farooqi still being held at gunpoint and demanded that all of the customers still inside lay down. The four men took all of the customers’ cellphones, approximately 150 cellphones from the store itself and R5 000 in cash.
A case of armed robbery was opened with Witbank SAPS, and is currently being investigated.
On February 13 at 22:00, Mr Jay Mahlangu reported for work at a grocery store where he is employed as a security guard.
He hadn’t been in the guard room for very long before he was ambushed by six armed men wearing dark clothes, one of whom was also wearing a security guard uniform.
The six men tied Mr Mahlangu up with his own shoelaces, whilst the robber in the security guard uniform stole Mr Mahlangu’s cap and put it on in order to complete Mr Mahlangu’s patrols so as not to raise suspicion.
“They told me not to worry, they told me that they were only interested in robbing the store,” Mr Mahlangu said, “whilst I was lying tied up in the guard room, I heard them ransack the shop and then suddenly I heard a gunshot… I was able to untie myself, and out of fear – I ended up running away.”
A case of armed robbery was opened with Witbank SAPS, and is currently being investigated.
On February 14, Woltemade Street saw some action when, at approximately 18:00, three men entered Mr Hasim Laghari’s shop.
The three men whipped out their pistols almost immediately and demanded to be given Mr Laghari and his brother’s cellphones, as well as all of the cash from the till.
The three men escaped with cash and cellphones to the value of R10 600.
A case of armed robbery was opened with Witbank SAPS, and is currently being investigated.
On February 15, at about 17:30, Mr John Magagula was busy with his shift in a local grocer when he was approached by an unknown man asking for food.
Mr Magagula explained that he did not have any food to give to the man.
The unknown man left the shop, looking despondent, but returned within minutes in the company of three armed men.
The men held Mr Magagula at gunpoint whilst they stole his cigarettes, his cash, the money out of the till, his car keys and his cellphone.
A case of armed robbery was opened with Witbank SAPS, and is currently being investigated.
On February 17, at approximately 22:00, a security guard in extension 10 was on duty at a local store when he was suddenly approached by four strange men. One of the men told him to go and fetch his security dog, threatening to kill the dog if the security guard did not comply.
The guard fetched his dog, and the four robbers promptly tied both the guard and his dog up with cable ties.
As soon as the guard and his canine companion were subdued, a quantum bakkie made its appearance.
The thieves filled the loading bed up to capacity twice before they decided that they had stolen enough; leaving the guard and his dog, still tied up.
A case of armed robbery was opened with Witbank SAPS, and is currently being investigated.
The unemployment crisis in South Africa is often blamed for the wave of crimes that we have been experiencing; but how can business owners be expected to create employment opportunities when they are robbed at every possible opportunity – insuring that they wont be able to offer a new employee a job, due to lack of cash flow.
An estimated 27 businesses are robbed daily in South Africa, making it all the more impressive that a small town like eMalahleni managed to have five of their own within the span of a week.
