Gunmen hijacked a taxi transporting special needs school children in Cape Town after robbing a social grant paypoint.
|||Cape Town - Merciless gunmen hijacked a taxi transporting special needs school children after robbing a social grant paypoint.
The heist ended with a shootout near a primary school which finds itself at the centre of a raging gang war.
This comes days after the fatal shooting of a suspected gangster outside a Lentegeur school; and a gun attack on a man parked outside another school close by.
As well as the execution of teen learnerEnrico Martin, 19, at Spes Bona High School on Wednesday.
In yesterday’s heist, the gang made off with R60 000 from a South African Social Services Agency (Sassa) office in Nyanga.
A witness says the men casually walked into the Sassa hall before fleeing with cash.
“I saw a woman crawling across the road with her hands on her head. A VW Golf was parked outside the gate,” the witness recalls.
“Suddenly there were gunshots - it was the police and the robbers in a shootout. The suspects got into the white car and drove away.”
Police say the men fired shots inside the hall after they managed to overpower security guards.
“It’s alleged the suspects entered the hall with handguns and an R5 rifle,” says spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk.
“They fired shots inside and overpowered the security guards and fled the scene in a white Golf with an undisclosed amount of cash.”
Van Wyk says the Golf was reported stolen in Durbanville.
The men then hijacked a school bus with 17 kids and two caregivers still inside.
The children and staff from Sobambisana Educare Centre were later dumped in Lower Cross Roads unharmed.
The 56-year-old minibus driver says seven armed men jumped out of a white VW Golf and told him to get out.
“I almost rammed into them and when I was about to shout at them, they jumped out like they do in the movies,” says the shocked driver.
“They had R4s and shotguns. While others were busy with me, some opened the sliding door and climbed in at the back. When I heard a child cry, I froze - I knew I couldn’t do anything because a gun was at my face and by the time I looked again, the taxi was gone.
“One of them put a big gun on my forehead and asked for money. When he told them he didn’t have cash they sped off.
The dramatic car chase came to an end in Cornflower Road, in Mitchell’s Plain, close to a primary school where two suspects were arrested.
Residents say the men got out of the Quantum van and fired several shots at police.
One woman says the men scattered after cops gave chase.
“The men sped down the road when police started chasing them,” she says.
“They got out of the car and started shooting before they all ran in different directions.”
The Daily Voice counted at least 14 police cones where bullet shells were found in Cornflower Road.
Just a few roads away in Lobelia Street, another woman says two of the gunmen hid in her backyard.
“I was at the [tuckshop] when I saw two guys jump over the wall, but police immediately came to arrest them,” she says.
In Linaria Road a few blocks away, police bust two more suspects.
A fifth suspect was rushed to hospital.
Resident Muqmeema Adams, 25, says one of the men stormed into an elderly woman’s house.
“I heard gunshots and saw two men running across the field,” she says.
“They were chased by police. One of them ran into my neighbour’s house and closed the door while she was still inside.
“But police followed him and brought him out.”
Van Wyk says five suspects were arrested - including the wounded suspect.
“Four firearms were recovered of which one is an R5 rifle,” he says.
“The suspects will appear in court soon on charges of armed robbery, attempted murder, hijacking, pointing of a firearm, possession of a stolen vehicle and illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.”
Police also arrested five men in a white Toyota Cressida in Swartklip Road who were in possession of an illegal firearm.
“Police were patrolling the area looking for the heist suspects when they saw a suspicious-looking vehicle,” Van Wyk adds.
He says the men were found with an illegal gun and cops are investigating if there’s a link.
Daily Voice