Goitsemang Tlhabye
PENSIONER John Mutimuye joined the queue outside Net1 Financial Services, Soshanguve Plaza, at about 5am as he has done over the years, but little did he know that he would end up dodging bullets.
The Soshanguve Block G resident was near the front of the queue at Net1 to collect his pension.
But about an hour later he found himself running for his life, fleeing from a hail of bullets.
When the gunshots ceased, Mutimuye waited anxiously to retrieve his car.
By 11am, he was able to ask police officers to allow him to fetch his car, which was by then adjacent to the white BMW abandoned by 12 armed robbers.
He was happy to have escaped with his life and without being shot.
However, two security guards, two other men and eight elderly women, believed to be in their 60s, were not so lucky.
The driver of a Fidelity cash van had hit a BMW in an attempt to stop the armed robbers in their tracks.
The Fidelity van was also damaged in the process.
The pensioners were shot in the legs and hips and all were taken to the George Mukhari Hospital where their condition was described as stable by yesterday evening.
The robbers managed to get away with a box containing an undisclosed amount of money.
The gang had fled in a second getaway car, a Tata bakkie, which was on “standby”.
Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Lolo Mangena said Fidelity trucks had come to offload money at Net1 Financial Services when the guards were accosted by the armed gang a few metres away from the entrance.
“The guards had a box with an undisclosed amount of money.
“We found 29 spent 9mm cartridges, a Taurus revolver and one live round on the scene,” he said.
It has since been established that the BMW left behind by the men had been hijacked in March last year in Yeoville, Mangena said.
He added that this was not the first robbery that had occurred at the centre.
Within seconds of being allowed to get to his car, pensioner Mutimuye sped away from the scene.
Mutimuye said he was minding his own business in the queue and chatting to other pensioners when the robbers showed up “from nowhere”.
“Guns in hand, and with no regard for the old people waiting in the queue, they just started shooting randomly,” he said.
“I had to leave my Mercedes which was parked close to the entrance and right next to the robbers’ cars, and ducked for my life.
“It was really scary. I only returned to the scene after the police had arrived.”
Another pensioner, Phillip Maduane, told the Cape Times’ sister paper the Pretoria News he was near the back of the queue and did not see much of what had happened.
But like the rest of the people in the queue, he had to duck to evade the flying bullets.
“I saw one of the robbers come out running with the cash box.
“He fell and quickly got up and continued running towards the back of the shopping complex,” said Maduane.
“I heard gunshots and people were screaming.
“We ran towards the second gate of the centre, but it was still locked. We then threw ourselves to the ground and lay quietly, silently praying for our safety,” he said.
The engine of the getaway BMW was still running and the entire area was cordoned off by police by late morning.
Numerous spent cartridges could be seen all around the parking area of the shopping centre. Curious community members stood at the periphery of the crime scene, demarcated by police tape.
The pensioners were shocked and angry, but continued to wait, hoping to get their money once the situation had returned to normal.