Police are hunting the armed men who tried to rob a cash van in Dunoon last Thursday morning.
“Two vehicles, a Mercedes Benz and a BMW tried to force the transit vehicle off the road and started shooting at the driver, hitting him in the arm,” said provincial SAPS spokeswoman Colonel Athlenda Mathe.
“There were three other guards inside the back of the transit vehicle, who were injured when the driver of their vehicle forced the Mercedes Benz off the road.
“The occupants of the Mercedes jumped into the BMW and sped off without getting their hands on any cash,” she said.
According to Colonel Mathe, police checked the registration number of the Mercedes and found it had been reported stolen in Khayelitsha.
“The injured guards were taken to hospital for medical attention,” she said.
Dunoon resident Anele Khwatsha was on her way to the shops at the time of the attempted robbery.
“I was running some errands when I heard tyres screeching and gunshots. I have never been so scared. I ran and hid behind some cars that had stopped dead in their tracks after they also heard the commotion. Some schoolchildren were still on their way to school,” she said.
Another resident, Thembi Nxaso, was fetching water when the shots rang out. “I dropped my bucket and ran back home. It was such a scary moment. All I kept thinking is what would happen to my two girls if something bad happened to me.”
Video clips of the incident appeared on social media and one of them showed a guard being attended to by paramedics. In another video, Dunoon residents and what looks like a boy on his way to school can be seen fleeing while gunshots can be heard.
Meanwhile, the cash-in-transit company, SBV Services, has offered a R1 million reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the would-be robbers.
The company’s group CEO, Mark Barrett, commended the guards’ bravery.
“We cannot comment further as an investigation is under way, and we are cooperating with the SAPS as they investigate. I would like to commend the team for their bravery while defending this attack and reiterate that SBV will not tolerate any attacks that place our employees’ lives at risk.”
Information can be reported anonymously to Crime Stop at 08600 10111.
