Daylight robbery: Gunmen rob Golden Arrow bus passengers

  • Several passengers were robbed in broad daylight on Friday morning. 
  • Police are investigating the incident. 
  • Golden Arrow said it was “shocked” to hear about the footage that was shared online.

Several passengers on board a Golden Arrow bus were robbed of their belongings on Spine Road in Khayelitsha on Friday morning.

Western Cape police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said the bus had stopped near an Engen garage when armed men climbed board.

“The men threatened the driver, whilst the others robbed the passengers of the valuables. The suspects fled with cash they took from the driver,” Swartbooi added.

A video that surfaced online shows one of the men wearing a cloth mask and demanding that passengers hand over their belongings.

He then collects what looks like cellphones, before climbing off the bus.

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Golden Arrow Bus Services spokesperson Bronwen Dyke-Beyer said they were “very shocked to hear that the footage had been placed on social media”.

Dyke-Beyer stressed:

We shared it with SAPS in order to assist them in fulfilling their constitutional mandate to prevent and investigate crimes and to ensure that perpetrators are apprehended. We only shared (the footage) with them so that they could identify the suspects and arrest them.

She added that the passengers and the driver were robbed of their personal belongings.

“There were no officers on this bus. We are doing all that we can to assist SAPS to catch these criminals, but we cannot play the role that the authorities must play. We are not equipped to catch, arrest and prosecute criminals. That is [the] government’s role, and we are begging them to catch these brazen thugs.”

Police are investigating a case of robbery with a firearm.

Anyone with information that could lead to the arrest of the perpetrators is asked to contact Crime Stop at 08600 10111.