The police bomb squad is at Tata bottle store in Dr Jacob Zuma Drive, where robbers blew up a cash safe and hijacked a vehicle for their getaway early on Thursday 28 November.
The police bomb squad is at Tata bottle store in Dr Jacob Zuma Drive, where robbers blew up a cash safe and hijacked a vehicle for their getaway early on Thursday 28 November.
The store occupies the ground floor of a building that stretches from Dr Jacob Zuma Drive to Jarvis Street, off Orsmond Terrace.
United Cash and Carry, which faces on to Jarvis Street, occupies the rest of the building.
Owner of United Cash and Carry Tony Coopasamy said the robbers had broken through the yard gate on the Jarvis Street side.
A large section of Jarvis Street has been cordoned off and more than a dozen police officers are in and around the buildings.
According to the police, the robbers used explosives to blow open a safe in the bottle store. They made off with an undisclosed amount in a vehicle hijacked from a local security company.
The police bomb squad was still searching and securing the building when Grocott's Mail visited the site at 10am on Thursday.
Hi-Tec security's Kenny Knoetze confirmed that shortly after the robbery, men hijacked one of the company's vehicles and sped off. Knoetze confirmed that the Hi-Tec vehicle was hijacked around sunrise on Thursday, but said he was unable to comment further.
An unconfirmed report suggests the vehicle had not been sent in response to the robbery, however, but was on routine duties.
"It was the vehicle used for checking up on the guards," claimed the source, who asked to remain anonymous. He said the vehicle had been parked down the road from United Cash and Carry in Jarvis Street. It was outside the premises of another business, where there was a security guard on duty, he said.
Coopasamy wanted to reassure his customers that he was open for business.
"My shop is now open for business. It was closed for a while, but we are fine now. The police are still in the bottle store, but anyone can come here."
Police spokesperson Mali Govender said the police would release a statement soon.
Read more about the robbery in Friday's edition of Grocott's Mail.
