CCTV footage has shown how a gang that killed the manager of a Randburg Spar at the weekend also attacked security guards and brazenly walked past security cameras without covering their faces.
This follows several other supermarket robberies with a similar modus operandi over the past year.
In the reported incidents, about eight armed men enter a store just before closing time, then rob customers, the tills and the safe.
On Sunday, eight men entered the Spar in Jukskei Park, Randburg, just before it was about to close and immediately began rounding up the staff inside, before taking the manager to the cash office, according to Warrant Officer Balan Muthan.
The footage shows the men, who made no attempt to cover their faces, grabbing and pushing staff and attacking a security guard. The footage also shows one of the suspects in a blue hoodie attacking another security guard soon after they enter the store, despite the guard putting his hands in the air. The suspect hits the guard twice in the face before dragging him off camera.
Three men take the manager, Paul Androliakos, into the cash office and point a gun at him as they walk behind him. They go out of sight of the camera, then leave, clutching money.
One man raises what looks like a heavy bag, presumably full of coins, and threatens to hit the manager before leaving the office.
Muthan said the men then shot the manager, who died from his wounds in hospital, before fleeing.
On their way out, shots were fired at a security guard, a bullet grazing his head, before the gang stole his vehicle and fled the scene, according to Muthan.
The footage shows the shot guard bleeding from his head. A suspect wearing a red beanie and a dark-blue jacket with a red stripe down the back is also seen.
In a similar incident, a Checkers supermarket was robbed by a gang of eight men in late April at the Leaping Frog Shopping Centre in Fourways, about 7km from the Jukskei Park Spar. Muthan said three arrests had been made in connection with the Fourways robbery. He said the police were trying to link the two incidents.
On Tuesday, two men were convicted of assault, attempted murder and contravening the Firearms Act in relation to a robbery they were involved in at the Fairland Spar last year. Mbekeni Zwane and Welcome Mtshali were each sentenced in the Johannesburg High Court to 32 years in jail.
Some employees at the Fairland Spar were shot and injured during the robbery, and the gang of six made off with about R200 000 in cash and valuables.
l The police are urging anyone with information about the men or the robbery to contact Muthan at 082 341 0575 or the Douglasdale police station at 011 699 1300, or alternatively SMS your anonymous tip-off to 32211.
Stores targeted before closing
The Star has reported several similar instances in Gauteng in just over a year where the methods used were similar.
* April 22, 2012: At about 6.30pm on a Sunday, eight men first hold up a pharmacy, then the Checkers at the Leaping Frog Shopping Centre in Fourways. The men fire shots as they flee the scene.
* August 13, 2011: Six men roba Spar in Fairland half-an-hour before closing. Two men were sentenced this week to 32 years in prison over the robbery.
* August 8, 2011: 24 men rob a Pick n Pay in Cornwall Hill, Centurion, near the end of the business day.
* July 31, 2011: Eight men rob a Spar in Verwoerd Park, Alberton, and shoot and injure a customer.
* July 8, 2011: Eight men roba Spar and Tops bottle store in Olievenhoutbosch half-an-hour before closing time.
* May 24, 2011: Eight men storm the Olivedale Shopping Centre and rob a Pick n Pay, a pharmacy and a liquor store.
* May 11, 2011: Six men rob a liquor store while, simultaneously, nine rob the neighbouring Spar at about 6.30pm.
The Star