Johannesburg - A policeman and security guard were wounded following an attempted cash-in-transit robbery at the Randburg Square shopping centre in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Gauteng police said.
“It is alleged that the [security] officials were dropping the money off at the mall when they were attacked by an unknown number of suspects,” Captain Doniah Mothutsane said.
“The guards managed to run back to the car with the money. The suspects started shooting randomly and a security guard was shot and injured on the lower body.”
The robbers then fled the scene in a Polo and white bakkie. While doing so they saw a police car and began firing at it.
The policeman was wounded in the upper body and airlifted to hospital.
Police were investigating a case of attempted murder and attempted cash-in-transit robbery, said Mothutsane.
The attempted robbery happened around 7am. A rifle and pistol were taken from the security guards.
No arrests had been made.
Meanwhile, a gang of armed robbers pulled off a pre-dawn raid on a Cape Town shopping centre on Tuesday.
A source confirmed that four men arrived at the High Constantia centre at about 4.30am.
The centre is at the entrance to the famous Groot Constantia wine estate, on the corner of Constantia Main Road.
An informed source said two men had held up two night-duty security guards at gunpoint, while another pair used crowbars to force their way past a welded-steel security gate into an upmarket women’s boutique.
The gang stole women’s clothing, and took the two guards’ cellphones, before fleeing.
Police spokesman FC van Wyk reported: “The suspects fled in a black Ford Meteor and a white Hyundai i10. No injuries have been reported. Arrests have yet to be made.
“Anyone with information about this incident is kindly requested to contact the investigating officer Detective Warrant Officer Calla Gertsner on 021 710 7340 or Crime Stop on 08600 10111,” Van Wyk asked.
This is the second time the boutique has been robbed this year.
Tuesday’s incident follows a spate of robberies at jewellery, technology and gadget shops at malls and centres in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
Among the places targeted in Cape Town this year are shops at Canal Walk, Long Beach Mall, Blue Route Mall, Cape Gate, Tyger Valley Centre and Zewenwacht Mall. Canal Walk was robbed twice in five days.
In Gauteng, at least 11 malls were robbed between August 13 and September 9.
Gauteng police commissioner Lt-Gen Lesetja Mothiba said on September 9 Gauteng was the worst-affected province regarding mall robberies.
The modus operandi of robbers was to enter shops posing as customers.
Mothiba said police suspected all the robberies could have been inside jobs, which was worrying.
“At Kolonnade the robbers were waiting for the delivery vehicle bringing the cellphones. How did they know it was coming on that day and at that time?”
Police “definitely” suspected that all the robbers had inside information, either from employees or security guards.
He urged employers to look into their employees' integrity because it made the police and shop owners' jobs difficult.
Cape Argus and Sapa