A routine trip home after a normal day’s work as a secretary turned out to be anything but.
At approximately 4.10pm on 31 October, Kathy Symonds left her friend Mavis Khumalo (not her real name) in charge of her car while she went on an errand. The car was parked on Van Wyk Street in Roodepoort CBD, less than 50 metres from Capitec.
Symonds noticed pandemonium on her return. According to Khumalo this is what she witnessed:
“About ten minutes after my friend disappeared around the corner, I got the fright of my life as I heard an explosion. At first I thought a car tyre had burst, but a second blast then shattered the sound of peak hour traffic.
“Immediately people rushed in my direction. I fled from the car into the nearest shop. The shop owners already were lying flat on the floor. I went to hide in the nearest corner, where I managed to peek at what was happening in the street.
“Another three shots were heard above the sound of screaming people. Those still on the road were running, not caring about shoes that slipped off, or food they dropped.
“The only official-looking vehicle in the vicinity was a cash-in-transit G4S vehicle near Capitec and Standard Bank. This vehicle evidently was the target of the shooting.
“I was shivering with fright, not only because of what was happening, but because the shop owners were wary of me, a stranger, not knowing if I was party to the crime.
“After five to eight minutes a Metro Police car arrived on the scene. A few minutes later the street was swarming with police car with flashing blue lights, ambulances, a fire engine and private security companies’ vehicles.
“People slowly emerged from their hiding places, then rushed to the cordoned-off crime scene to see what they’d missed.
“From what I heard from one of the ladies in the crowd of onlookers, a guard from the G4S vehicle had been injured. By this time, my friend had returned and immediately set about taking photos of a person being treated by paramedics and then loaded into an ambulance”.
An SAPS spokesperson confirmed the shooting as a attempted cash-in-transit robbery. No one has been arrested yet.
