'Bing, bang, boom'
2008-05-13 09:20
Johannesburg - "Welcome to Ground Zero."
This was how Villa Rosa actor Andreas Jordaan greeted the curious who wanted to hear what had happened at his petrol station in Hursthill in western Johannesburg.
The Standard Bank ATM on the premises - just a few metres from the petrol pumps- was blown up in the early hours of the morning.
Andreas played the role of Rikus Schoeman on the KykNet soap opera.
Andreas said that four men showed up about 02:00 and told the petrol attendants they were just coming to do something.
One of the robbers showed the petrol attendants the gun he had been hiding under his shirt and told them to stay in their kiosk. No one was harmed during the robbery.
'Crisis? What crisis?'
Andreas, who has a video recording of the robbery, said the "whole process" lasted about five minutes.
"They come in, put the things in and then it's bing, bang, boom."
He said he now shared what he called President Thabo Mbeki's attitude on the status of crime in the country: "Crisis? What crisis?'
"This kind of thing is now part of our lives," he said.
"These people do this kind of thing without regard for human life.
It's bloody lucky the garage wasn't blown up."