Police in Delmas received a high volume of calls after a group of robbers terrorising motorists on the N12 freeway on Friday night, 14 April 2023.
A number of vehicles were damaged after rocks were allegedly strategically placed on the road forcing motorists to stop.
According to reports from the first victim, he hit the rock that was mistaken for an obstacle that might have fallen from other vehicles when he stopped to fix the damage.
He reported that while inspecting the damage to his vehicle, a group of about six men, armed with firearms assaulted and robbed the victim of his belongings.
After the robbery, the victim managed to drive to the nearby filling station to seek assistance.
Police were summoned to the filling station, and whilst police were rendering assistance to the victim, another call was received.
It is alleged that three taxis that were travelling towards Mozambique encountered a similar incident.
The criminals riddled the victims’ taxi with a hail of bullets and one commuter was shot and injured.
Medical practitioners were summoned to the scene, assisted the injured before transporting him to hospital.
Police with the assistance from neighbourhood watch used an infra-red drone to locate the suspects however, they were nowhere to be found. The team managed to recover some of the robbed items from the bushes.
The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela warned motorists to be vigiliant and practise safety when driving at night. The General added that that road will be closely monitored until the suspects are arrested.
