There was a James Bond like film in Cash Crusaders on the corner of Strand and Loop streets, in Cape Town yesterday afternoon, as robbers had hostages at gunpoint but thhe police came to rescue as they were almost defeated.They had to keep the public away as a dramatic robbery unfolded.
According to witnesses, at one point the armed robbers held people hostage. It happened just a day after another Cash Crusaders shop was robbed at Khayelitsha Mall.
Hawker Janine Nongongo said the two thugs looked like normal customers when they entered the shop.
“But minutes later, customers ran out of the shop screaming. There was chaos.”
Mzolisi Nxumalo, who was handing out pamphlets near the entrance to Golden Acre Mall, said: “I saw some smoke coming out of the shop. There were police cars and fire engines in the street. Then I saw two workers coming out, one of them crying.”
Seven workers were apparently held hostage in the shop by the robbers but were rescued by the police special task force at about 2pm.
Mo Hendricks, manager of the Central City Improvement security company, said his team was informed about the robbery and rushed to the scene to help the police cordon it off.
Despite social media and online news sources reporting there was a hostage situation, police spokeswoman Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana said only a business robbery was being investigated.
“We’re investigating a robbery at a second-hand goods store,” she said.
“Two suspects entered the shop, threatened employees with a firearm and knife and ordered them to go to the back of the store. The suspects fled with a cellphone.
“No injuries were reported.”