An Extension 9 tavern owner who was taken hostage and robbed of all her weekend earnings after four gun-wielding men gained entry into the popular tavern is still having sleepless nights as a result of the horrific ordeal.
An Extension 9 tavern owner who was taken hostage and robbed of all her weekend earnings after four gun-wielding men gained entry into the popular tavern is still having sleepless nights as a result of the horrific ordeal.
Owner of KwaMaxobho tavern, Xoliswa Xegwana and her colleague Thobelani Xeswana were held hostage together with a few customers that were having drinks at the tavern on Monday 6 October.
Two armed robbers posing as customers made their way into the tavern, while two more gained entry to the back of the house and helped themselves to cash that Xegwana was about to deposit at the bank. Xegwana told Grocott's Mail that she was busy on the other side when she heard someone calling her name from the tavern.
"I initially thought it was a customer and came to the tavern," she said. However, when she arrived and looked over the counter at the other end was a man pointing a firearm at her, telling her not to move.
However, when she realised that she could take cover behind a fridge that was next to her, the gutsy businesswoman made a run for it. She went straight into the house where, to her surprise, she found two men already taking the money.
"Thobelani was sitting down and they were taking the money that was there and one of them put a gun against my head and told me to keep quiet," she said. Xegwana said she can barely sleep since having a gun against her head on Monday.
"I feel scared all the time. I can't even sleep properly, if I wake up in the evening I struggle to go to sleep because I feel they could come back."
Meanwhile, Xeswana said he was at the back of the house when he bumped into two guys with guns.
"They had guns and told me to go back into the house and ordered me to sit down and they started taking the money," he said. After taking the money, the two men demanded Xegwana's hand bag, car and home keys.
"Once they got all of these they drove off taking my bakkie with them," she said. However, the men dumped the bakkie in Extension 8 not far from her tavern, but took off with the keys.
Soon after the four men fled the pair called police and Hi-Tec, who arrived shortly afterwards. According to Xegwana, eyewitnesses who were near the tavern at the time said the men were driving in two cars, a red polo and another car which she couldn't remember. She said what she could remember about the men was that they were wearing black overalls, but could not see what they wearing from the waist down because she was behind the counter.
Eyewitnesses said two of the men were standing by the door looking around, according to Xegwana. Xegwana believes the men had inside information about her business.
"I don't know those guys, but it seems like they knew exactly what to do," she said. She also found a lot of strange things the day before the incident at her house.
"There were things stacked up against the wall as if someone was trying to plan an escape route. I think they tried to rob us on Sunday night but couldn't do it at night," she said.
Police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender said Xegwana was sitting in the front room of her house counting the money and putting it in the bank plastic bags when she heard somebody calling her name.
"She then stood up and went to the tavern and left money on the table and couch she then closed the door, but did not lock it, and went inside the tavern," she said. Govender said that when Xegwana arrived at the tavern she saw an unknown man coming towards the counter as if he needed help, but when he approached the counter he then instructed her not to move and pointed a firearm at her.
"She ran away from the tavern to the main house, when she entered in the front room she saw another two males busy collecting money and one of them grabbed her told her not to scream or make noise," she said. Govender said all of them were carrying pistols.
"They fled the scene with a Nissan 1toner bakkie which was recovered a short while later." They made off with an undisclosed amount of cash, two cell phones and other items.
A case of business robbery is under investigation. Nobody has been arrested. Anyone with information is urged to contact Joza Detectives on 046-602 2710.
