The Imbali Centre in Middelburg cautiously reopened on Friday morning, a day after a courier van was targeted in a brazen robbery.
Watch: Imbali Centre courier robbery caught on camera
Mpumalanga authorities are investigating the incident that unfolded at the centre’s parking lot on Thursday morning, involving a white Toyota Corolla with a black roof.
Surveillance footage captured the panic that set off at Imbali Centre when a lone courier was ambushed by a group of armed men, who, quite frankly, were inept in executing the crime.
At approximately 09:30, CCTV shows the suspect’s vehicle pulling into the centre after possibly stalking the courier on its way to its destination.
The courier, none the wiser to the events that are about to unfold, unlatches the canopy doors and right before he reaches in to pull out a box, one of the suspects lunges out from the rear passenger seat in an attempt to grab the delivery guy.
The shock jolts the driver into flight mode and right after he bolts, the suspect bizarrely hesitates and instead of grabbing the boxes, he dashes into the car.
A crucial eyewitness emerges from centre and watches on as the suspects fumble the robbery attempt.
The getaway driver hesitates on whether to leave or get out of the vehicle and offload the boxes himself.
Another suspect feigns bravery and gets out of the vehicle but quickly tracks back, visibly frustrated with the driver’s ineptitude. He signals his accomplice to park the vehicle with the trunk facing the courier van.
While this embarrassing amateur display continues, a woman dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans was walking past the centre when she noticed the robbery unfold.
She was caught on camera the moment she turned around and approached a white bakkie parked near the Imbali Centre entrance for cover.
Exposed to their lack of experience, the woman bravely pounced on the suspects as they started hastily loading boxes into the vehicle.
While other eyewitnesses were frozen in horror, the unidentified woman ambushed the robber, delivering several punches as his accomplices attempted to escape.
The woman, however, was not strong enough to subdue the suspect and the CCTV footage ends with the robbers getting away with one or two boxes taken from the courier.
When this article was published, it’s believed the suspects were still at large.
Watch the CCTV footage below: