Pretoria - Police have launched a manhunt after two businessmen came under a hail of bullets in a daylight robbery on the N4 highway.
The car, which the two businessmen were travelling in, was relentlessly shot at after the pair allegedly collected an undisclosed amount of cash from a cash-in-transit company in Silvertondale.
The driver of the car was forced into the emergency lane by the attackers, who travelled in a white BMW.
As the car abruptly stops, the BMW can be seen stopping a few metres ahead, in the middle of the highway.
Three heavily armed men then exit the BMW and shout for the driver to open the door.
The video clip was posted by anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee on social media.
The man is heard screaming, seemingly in response to what sounds like gunshots being fired towards his car.
In the video, the vehicle stops and just seconds later, a white BMW pulls up in front. Several masked men emerge from the vehicle, wielding massive guns, approaching the victim’s car.
One of them emerges into the camera shot holding a large bag, presumably with money, before they all get back into the BMW and speed off.
Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Senzo Mculu said the two businessmen were on their way to Brakpan, travelling on the highway, when multiple shots were fired at their car.
“On their way to Brakpan, they were travelling along Stormvoël Road, turning left into the N1 south off-ramp. Between the N1 and N4, passengers from another car opened fire,” he said.
Mculu said the businessmen, travelling in a VW Amarok, had collected cash from a cash-in-transit company in Silvertondale, when the incident happened.
Many on social media suspected that it was an inside job. Some suggested that the bank teller, who helped the man make the withdrawal, may have tipped off the robbers.
Crime on the country’s major highways has been on a spike. Recently, Silverton police, aided by security services, caught a man suspected of being involved in spike-trap robberies on the N4 highway.
On Thursday night, police and various security companies chased after three suspects next to the highway, near the Simon Vermooten offramp.
The suspects escaped, but security services discovered another discarded firearm on the scene.
Spikes placed on the N1 and N4, to trap motorists, had become a major concern in the past year.
Pretoria News