Cops hunting gun thieves
2004-04-20 10:39
Middelburg - Mpumalanga police were on tenterhooks on Tuesday after robbers took 11 firearms during a break-in at a home in the remote Laersdrif farming area on Monday.
The robbers struck shortly after 07:00 after the owner of the Laersdrif supermarket left his home behind the supermarket to open the business for the day.
Their domestic worker was overpowered by two men wearing balaclavas and was locked in a room in the house.
The men forced the safe open and took 11 firearms and R30 000 in cash.
They made their getaway in the family's blue Toyota Camry and when the woman felt it was safe again, she raised the alarm.
"We are very worried because they are going to use those firearms to commit other crimes and they might kill people," said Senior Superintendent Theo de Bruyn.
Police had circulated a list of the weapons and a description of the men - one dressed in a blue overall and other in a camouflage uniform similar to those worn by the SA National Defence Force.
The owner had a collector's licence under the old Act governing firearms. Under the new Act, still to be proclaimed by the president, it would be illegal to own so many weapons, De Bruyn said.
- SAPA