Five armed men robbed the Clicks in Fish Hoek Main Road on Friday February 3 and made off with an undisclosed amount of money, three cellphones and various items from the store shelves, police say.
According to Fish Hoek police spokesman Warrant Officer Peter Middleton, the robbers entered the store at around 9.45am using caps and jackets to disguise themselves.
“Two of the suspects were armed with pistols and ordered the staff and customers to sit down,” he said.
Warrant Officer Middleton said that the suspects fled in a vehicle with no number plates after leaving the store.
“These suspects have not been linked with any of the other burglaries that have taken place and the matter is still under investigation,” he said.
Clicks’ chief store operations officer, Dhevan Pillay, confirmed the incident.
“Clicks can confirm that an armed robbery took place on Friday February 3 at Clicks Fish Hoek. No customers or staff were injured. Clicks is providing trauma counselling for staff and cooperating fully with the SAPS in their investigation.”
During the Echo’s visit to the store, one of the victims, who asked not to be named, said she was furious that this had happened, but she commended the staff for staying calm.
“The armed robbers had taken us to the back, and one of the robbers wanted to take my phone. One of the ladies, a staff member who was sitting next to me, urged me to be quiet and then proceeded to press the alarm,” she said. “They were all very very brave.”
Fish Hoek Community Police Forum chairman Jonathan Mills called on SAPS to urgently fix the crisis of manpower and resourcing, which he said allowed gangs the time and space to operate in.
“Yet again our main road has been targeted by hardened criminals coming from outside our community. While we are blessed to have active neighbourhood watches and committed community groups that are working locally to keep us safe, it is the police who have the reach to track these criminal gangs across the City,” he said.
Anyone with information can contact Detective Warrant Officer Joe Scheepers at 021 784 271.
