Public fights back in mall war
2006-08-27 23:18
Eduan Roos and Pieter Jordaan
Johannesburg - Just days after President Thabo Mbeki asked South Africans what they were doing to fight crime, shoppers at a busy Johannesburg shopping mall gave a crystal-clear answer.
Four members of a seven-man armed gang were captured by shoppers, a security company and the police, just moments after a bloody battle in a Bryanston mall.
Mbeki asked South Africans in a speech before the national house of traditional leaders in Cape Town last week to ask themselves what they were doing to counter crime, rather than always asking what the government and police were doing.
Shoppers ran in all directions trying to avoid bullets when an armed gang started firing at Coin security guards about 10:30 on Sunday.
Guard wounded twice
Police spokesperson Sanku Tsunke said a 35-year-old guard and a colleague were on their way to their van with a cash box from Checkers when the robbers opened fire.
Tsunke said: "The guard was wounded twice in the left leg and he returned fire. Some of the gang also were wounded and they ran away."
A Coin spokesperson said the guard ran further into the mall, with the gang members following him, shooting continuously.
"It was like a small war zone, but the guard was determined the robbers were not going to get the cash box from him.
"With the cash box clutched under his arm, he lent against a wall and holding his firearm, he stood waiting for them."
A row of police cones and blood stains against a wall bore testimony to the shootings.
A shopper, Kobus van Deventer, heard the shots and grabbed his firearm.
"I saw a few robbers running past me and followed them. Some of them ran into the nearby bush, while others jumped into a taxi.
"I had one of them in the firearm's crosshairs, but couldn't fire a shot because he was surrounded by people."
Van Deventer said police and Coin reaction officials were on the scene a few moments later.
"We (he and other shoppers) showed them where the guys were hiding in the bush and suggested that the roads be closed.
"I joined them in the search for the robbers."
Still hunting for three robbers
Tsunke said four men, aged between 24 and 53, were arrested and the police confiscated two firearms buried in the veld.
"The Johannesburg police unit against serious crime is searching for the other three. The injured guard is in a stable condition in hospital."
A security guard at Checkers also fled to safety: "I didn't realise anything was happening until they started shooting. I saw people running to safety."