Cape Town – One of the congregants who witnessed a robbery during a church service at a Seventh-day Adventist Church in Johannesburg over the weekend, has detailed how she was left traumatised after the incident.
Six armed men reportedly stormed the church in the Johannesburg CBD on Saturday and robbed members of the congregation of their wallets, phones and other valuables.
According to crime activist Yusuf Abramjee, the incident occurred while the pastor was preaching.
A video that has since gone viral on social media shows the pastor hiding behind the pupilt and the gunmen can be heard cocking the gun.
No arrests have been made as yet. https://t.co/Wqh7pNnQMs pic.twitter.com/VYRFQQHUED
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) November 27, 2022
According to Times Live, one of the congregants, who witnessed the incident, said the gunmen robbed people of their valuables within 10 minutes.
“I saw them when they came in, they were dodgy and I even said to myself, ‘let’s hope we are not going to get robbed’. We were about to finish the service,” the report quoted the witness as saying
“… they started searching, I was on the floor. They took a lot of stuff. They had bags and were packing whatever they could see or they asked you to put in your phone, wallet, handbag or whatever,” she said.
“… I was scared because I have children who I attend church with. They were in a different section and I was worrying, ‘what if they went there also?’ What if … I was scared, especially for my children.
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“…It has traumatised me and I think it’s going to take time to go back. I would rather worship at home. I don’t feel safe there. Who knows what is going to happen next,” the report quoted the congregant as saying.
Meanwhile, IOL reported on Monday that no arrests had been made after the robbery, with police in Gauteng, however, vowing to trace and bring to book the gunmen.
The report quoted the deacon of the church Prince Thebe as saying the gunmen also ran away with the money for offerings.
“They then asked for the money for offerings, and we showed them the basket. They took the money and ran off.”, and we showed them the basket. They took the money and ran off.”
“… a group of guys stomped inside the church, from the right and left sides of the doors. One went straight to the preacher in the front, pointed a gun at him, and told him to lie down. The other guys were busy with the congregation, walking pew by pew and collecting cellphones. They then asked for the money for offerings, and we showed them the basket. They took the money and ran off,” Thebe said, according to the report.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
