Police at Tonga, in Mpumalanga, have arrested two suspects, aged 26 and 39, moments after a business robbery was committed at the Post Office in Mangweni on Friday.
The daring robbery happened at around 7am, according to Mpumalanga provincial police spokesperson, Colonel Donald Mdhluli.
“During the arrest of the two suspects at Naas, members of the police managed to recover a firearm as well as some ammunition and other items. What is even more shocking, is that one of the suspects is believed to be working as a paramedic,” he said.
“According to the police report, armed suspects entered the Post Office and held the employees at gunpoint.
“It is further reported that these suspects demanded cash from the employees who were tied with cable ties. They then allegedly helped themselves with an undisclosed amount of cash from the safe, as well as the Post Office keys before they fled the scene in a Volkswagen Golf,” said Mdhluli.
The robbers left the Post Office workers still tied up.
However, police said no one was injured during the incident.
“Police were then informed about the incident and they were immediately on high alert, seeking the suspects,” said Mdhluli.
“A concerned citizen spotted the Volkswagen Golf and alerted police on its whereabouts. It was during this time when members (police) cornered the two male suspects at Naas in Nkomazi.”
During the arrest, police discovered the 9mm pistol with about 10 rounds of ammunition.
“The men and women in blue also recovered an undisclosed amount of cash which is suspected to have been stolen during the robbery, uniform for paramedics, some keys suspected to be from the Post Office, as well as cable ties suspected to have been part of the items used by the suspects against their victims during the robbery incident,” he said.
The recovered firearm is said to have been reported stolen at Mayflower during a house burglary in April 2023.
Police said the firearm will undergo ballistic testing to determine whether it was previously used in the commission of crime elsewhere.
Last year, IOL reported that five men, who were found guilty of an armed robbery at a Post Office in Ekuvukeni, near Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, were sentenced to an effective 35 years behind bars.
The accused, one as young as 22, were sentenced in the Madadeni High Court for the September 2021 robbery.
IOL