Durban - Cash, cigarettes and condoms worth thousands of rand have been stolen from nine garage ships within a 10km radius of Durban during the past 12 days.
In most cases, the robbers were seen in video footage casually walking in and out with the loot within minutes - the customers seeminlgly oblivious to the robbery.
On Thursday night and on early Friday morning, the brazen gang held up two filling stations.
Lionel Gaze, the owner of the Caltex garage in Rossburgh, said two men walked into the convenience store just after 7pm on Thursday.
One wore a “big floppy sun hat”, the other blue overalls.
They held up two cashiers and the night manager with a knife and a gun concealed under their clothes, said Gaze.
He said they opened up a backpack, which already had money in it, for the cashier to fill.
“One of them then asked, ‘Should we shoot them?’, but then they turned around and walked out.”
Gaze said the robbery took no more than two minutes, with the pair making their escape on foot.
“There were customers and other people in the parking lot, but these guys were so relaxed. They were in no rush - came in about 20 seconds apart and left about 10 seconds apart. The one in the overalls had his hands in his pockets the whole time, even as he casually strolled off after they robbed us,” Gaze said.
Although there was already money in their bag, police could not confirm if there was a prior robbery. However, the pair seemed to have been on a spree.
Hours later, they held up another convenience store. A manager, who asked for his and the petrol station’s name not to be mentioned, said the pair entered the store about 2.30am.
“One guy cornered the security (guard) and forced him into the storeroom. The other approached the cashier, said he was only doing his job, that she shouldn’t get excited and do anything silly. He showed her a gun, asked for money and cigarettes,” said the manager.
On September 16, the Engen garage store in Stamford Hill Road was robbed, said manager Dion Thomas (see sidebar).
The day before, Durian Subramanian, the owner at the Engen garage in Warwick Junction, said three men had walked into his convenience store, one of them with a gun.
“The gunman put the security guard in a headlock and held the gun to him,” Subramanian said, adding that customers who were shopping were told to stay where they were while the two robbers went to the till.
This was about 5.30pm - the peak period for the busy filling station, which is frequented mostly by taxis coming into Durban from the N3 and by those stationed at the various nearby ranks.
“They forced the cashier to open the till and took the money, as well as cigarettes and condoms.”
Subramanian walked in on them from his office and was told to stand still. Unlike the other robberies, the three men did not seem concerned about hiding their faces.
“One of them came to me for (my) phone, I think he was also scared because when I told him I left it in the office at the back he did not go after it but turned and walked away,” said Subramanian.
He said they were so calm that two women walked in to use the ATM and left while the robbery, which happened in three minutes, was taking place.
Subramanian said he ran out after the robbers but they had disappeared into the busy Warwick Junction crowd.
On September 12 at about 7.20pm, a petrol station in Kloof was held up. Two men robbed the convenience store at gunpoint before driving off, said police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane.
A Shell garage in Overport was robbed on September 11.
Zwane confirmed that two men in blue overalls had stolen an undisclosed amount of money before making their escape.
When contacted by the Daily News, management of the petrol station declined to comment.
The spate of robberies seems to have begun at a garage in Sea Cow Lake on August 29.
Zwane, confirmed three men had robbed cashiers at gunpoint about 6am.
The petrol station robbery was thought to be random until the Engen garage at 45th Cutting in Sherwood was held up on September 8.
Owner Richard Critchlow said a man who appeared to have been the robbers’ look out, had come into the store just before 8pm.
“He bought a packet of Niknaks and walked out. He then made a call and a second man in blue overalls and a dust mask walked in and went straight to the security guard. He put a gun to the security guard’s back and told him to lie down on the floor,” said Critchlow.
He said another man then walked in and searched the security guard while the masked man went up to the four cashiers at the counter.
He said they asked his staff for the money and to open the till. “They did not shout.”
After taking the cash they cleared the cigarette shelves and robbed staff of their cellphones.
As chairman of the Regional Advisory Council for Engen Petroleum Dealers, Critchlow said he was especially concerned about the safety of the staff and customers during these robberies.
He also expressed disappointment at the apparent lack of police action.
Zwane confirmed that cases of business robbery were being investigated at the police stations closest to each of the petrol stations.
According to the latest crime statistics, businesses are easy targets.
There were 92 215 robberies and burglaries at business premises in South Africa this year - an increase of 13.7 percent.
In KwaZulu-Natal, business robberies increased by 15 percent from last year when there were 2 707 cases reported.
Daily News