On a rainy afternoon, shoppers and taxi passengers were heading home when things suddenly took a disastrous turn.
This is because the shoppers, street vendors and taxi passengers near a mall in Newlands West, Durban had to duck for cover after bullets flew as there was a cash-in-transit robbery just outside a busy shopping mall.
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It’s alleged that 10 suspects who were in a single cab, wearing reflective vests, bombed a cash transporting van near Midway Mall in Newlands West, south of Durban, on Tuesday afternoon, 18 November.
In videos that are circulating on social media, two armed men can be seen firing guns at two cars that were driving past the scene. The men are near a taxi rank, and there are even taxis next to them.
It appears the motorists were unaware of the robbery taking place ahead.
Residents can be seen trying to stop the vehicles, but the unsuspecting drivers of the only two cars on the road kept going.
As they approached the armed men, one driver reversed while the other continued forward, and shots were fired at both cars.
It remains unclear whether either driver was injured.
Resident Menzi Mkhize from B5, an area near the mall, told Daily Sun that he heard gunshots, which were followed by a loud bang.
“I thought it was the taxi war because we often hear gunshots when they fight. But I later heard that there was a CIT robbery.”
He said the armed group of men, dressed in reflective vests, ambushed a cash van coming from the mall and overpowered the security guards before bombing the van.
Another resident, Khethelo Zwane, said the group of men took the money after bombing the van, and they escaped.
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However, moments after the robbers fled the scene, residents from nearby areas such as B5 and KwaMashu allegedly came to loot the money that was left behind.
When the KZN police spokesman Colonel Robert Netshiunda was contacted for comment, he said the scene was still active.
