A quick-thinking business man who was held at gun-point together with a female employee last Saturday evening says the reality of what had just happened on the day only kicked in after they were rescued by a local security company.
A quick-thinking business man who was held at gun-point together with a female employee last Saturday evening says the reality of what had just happened on the day only kicked in after they were rescued by a local security company.
Jean-Pierre Tomlison told Grocott's Mail that the realisation that his and his colleague's lives were in danger only sank in moments after Hi-Tec security guards apprehended the two men who had tied him and employee Michelle Marthinus in a back room of the store.
Tomlinson is the manager of KwaJackies butchery on Albert Street in Fingo Village.
When the incident happened just after 7pm on Saturday, Tomlinson says he had just unlocked the gate to leave with Marthinus, when he saw two men in his car's mirror grab Marthinus as he was getting into his car.
"And that's when I pressed the panic button in my car," Tomlinson.
He said the two men had reached his vehicle by this time and pointed the firearm at him.
"They told us to lie face down in the back yard and asked me where the key with the panic button was," he said.
After telling them that the panic button was in the car, one of them left to get it while the other man stood over them with the gun.
"When he came back he started searching us and took everything that was in our pockets," he said.
The two men then took the two employees to the back room where they tied their hands up with cable ties.
"They tied us up and told us they would shoot us if we did anything," Tomlinson said.
During this time Tomlison says he tried to stay calm and do what they asked.
"I did believe they would shoot us while we were in the back room because in a situation like that you don't know what kind of guys you are dealing with," he said.
He said the anger and the anxiety only kicked in afterwards.
"Obviously I was scared and I had to think about her (Marthinus). I was not so much scared in the moment. I tried to stay calm and do what they said. It happened very quickly," Tomlison said.
The two assailants then asked him to take them to the safe.
"They took him to [where]the safe was and took an undisclosed amount of cash," said police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender in a statement released on Tuesday 27 May.
Tomlison told Grocott's Mail that he does not keep the keys to the safe.
Only the security company (G4S) that collects money from the business keeps the key.
When Hi-Tec security guards arrived on the scene Tomlison and Marthinus were still tied up in the back room. He said the suspects asked for his car keys in an attempt to escape in his car with their belongings. However, they were foiled by Hi-Tec's arrival.
The suspects then ran back into the premises and tried to leave through another exit.
"They tried to run to the other gate, but Hi-Tec cornered them and arrested one of them hiding near the toilet at the back," Tomlinson said. No shots were fired during the incident.
Fingo Village residents gathered near the store shortly after the police had apprehended the two men aged 23 and 30.
Hi-Tec armed response and police responded quickly; when Grocott's Mail arrived at the scene, the two men were handcuffed, lying face-down inside the building, while police officers combed the area for evidence.
Govender said a revolver with six rounds of ammunition was seized.
Both Tomlison and Marthinus were unharmed.
The two men appeared in the Grahamstown Magistrate's court on Tuesday 27 May on a charge of business robbery.
