By Miranda Andrew
He will not be cowed by criminals. This is the vow of restaurateur Larry Goldberg after the horrific killing of a patron and the shooting of several others at his popular St Tropez restaurant on Saturday evening.
Shocked and mourning the death of customer Marc Joubert and the shooting of other guests and a staff member, Goldberg has vowed that he will continue with his business.
Three other guests and a staff member were wounded in the armed robbery.
Joubert, a Westville builder, was shot and killed after he apparently tried to disarm one of the armed robbers.
Police searched the bloody crime scene on Sunday at St Tropez, a popular sidewalk restaurant at the corner of Essenwood Road and St Thomas Road in Musgrave, Durban, in the hopes of finding any clues to the armed robbery.
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Pandemonium broke out on the restaurant's upper level when six gunmen entered the premises after 10pm sending 60 people, including those celebrating a birthday party at the restaurant, fleeing for cover.
Goldberg has since condemned the vicious crime, saying: "We will not be chased away by ruthless criminals."
"They entered and ran upstairs, where the private birthday party was taking place, and just started blasting away," Goldberg said on Sunday, while police took statements from visibly shaken staffers.
"Everybody just dropped to the floor. While patrons lay on the floor the robbers took cellphones, jewellery and cash."
The police's Superintendent Vincent Mdunge said a patron entering the building "was at the wrong place at the wrong time".
Joubert, 30, entered the restaurant, which is across the street from Durban High School, and was proceeding to the upper level to join the birthday party as terrified patrons ran past him.
"Minutes earlier, there had been a tussle between a few patrons and an intruder upstairs. The small crowd had attempted to disarm the thugs while some of them attempted to flee.
"Unfortunately, Joubert was on his way up and he was killed as the suspects fired at the fleeing patrons," said Mdunge.
Joubert's friends Clint Zuidewind and Jason Stirk were jointly celebrating their 30th birthdays.
Another three patrons and a St Tropez staffer were also wounded during the commotion.
The wounded were rushed to a nearby hospital where they are reported to be in a stable condition.
"While fleeing, the suspects continued to fire at the unarmed patrons on the restaurant's ground floor. In all, between 15 to 20 shots were fired," said Goldberg.
When the Daily News visited the scene of the crime, Goldberg bravely maintained that he would not close down the place.
"The St Tropez team will not be scared away by incessant violence in the province and we will take every step to ensure the safety of our diners," said Goldberg.
"As a restaurant, we are going to take a stance on violent crime because citizens cannot go anywhere without living in fear.
"This is a tragic incident and my thoughts are with the victim's family and friends. We just hope the general public will rally around to help fight crime in our city, even though we as citizens are led to believe that it's not there," Goldberg said. "We hope that the public and the business sector will encourage the government to put a stop to this unnecessary violence and crime so that we may all live in a peaceful society."
St Tropez has been temporarily closed pending a police investigation.
Mdunge said no arrests have yet been made, but police were working hard to track down the robbers.
He said a case of murder, three counts of attempted murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances is being investigated.
Supt Phindile Radebe said the suspects went into the St Tropez restaurant in Essenwood Road and started shooting at patrons.
"The men stole cellphones, watches, and some cash from the patrons and the restaurant staff," she said.
"The men fled in a white minibus taxi and a grey Opel Corsa," she said.
Police investigations were continuing.
- This article was originally published on page 3 of Daily News on May 28, 2007
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