Three male suspects robbed one of the Shaya depots in Louis Trichardt on Friday, February 1, escaping with only R500, which was the cash float for the day.

Although the amount of money stolen from the depot, situated in the Kruger Street one way, close to the depot of Limpopo Dairy, wasn’t that large, foreman Mr Richard Mukwevho and one of his co-workers, Mr Raymond Maswangani, were severely traumatized and are still suffering from shock.

Lucky to be alive, Mr Mukwevho told the Zoutpansberger that two men came into the depot and a third remained standing outside, shortly after opening time.

The two men inside the depot made lengthy enquiries about the prices of various sizes of bags. This went on for some time, when one of the men suddenly turned around with a pistol, demanding money.

Mr Mukwevho refused to tell them where the money was and he was taken into the depot, where the robbers tied his hands and instructed him to lie face down on the floor. Mr Mukwevho did as he was told; however, what was to happen next wasn’t expected. The robbers placed two 80 kg maize bags on top of him. Another employee of the depot, Mr Maswangani, was immobilized in the same way.

According to Mr Mukwevho, the robbers searched their pockets, finding a cellphone in Maswangani’s pocket. The robbers then went to the desk, where they found the R500 cash float, after which they rushed out of the depot, leaving the two men lying there.

For Mr Mukwevho, being of smaller build, the weight of the two 80kg bags of maize meal was almost unbearable. Fortunately, another employee of the depot, Mr Steven Mahlatha, arrived. He walked into the depot, saw his two co-workers on the floor, and rushed to their assistance.

The police were called and alerted to the robbery.

According to Mr Mukwevho, he is thankful to have survived the robbery, as it could very well have ended in one of them being shot.