Rustenburg – A group of armed men made off with an undisclosed amount of money after robbing a post office in Ximhungwe near Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga police said on Wednesday.
Spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said the robbery took place on Tuesday.
"According to the information at police disposal, employees at the said post office were on duty when a group of about 10 armed men pounced on them.
"Some of the suspects reportedly came inside while others remained outside and everyone was held hostage by the suspects. They (suspects) then ordered all of them to lie down and forced one of the employees to open a safe," he said.
Mohlala said that during the whole ordeal, shots were randomly fired around the post office, causing panic.
"The suspects then took an undisclosed amount of cash before they fired more shots as they fled from the scene using three motor vehicles, a grey BMW, white VW Polo and a white Ford Ranger with false registration number plates," he said.
Police were notified about the incident and immediately launched a manhunt.
"They managed to arrest one suspect who was driving a BMW at Ronaldsey, also in possession of a firearm with a serial number filed off," he said.
The Ford Ranger was located after it crashed at Kildare Trust, near a secondary school.
"Preliminary investigation also unearthed that the Ford Ranger was hijacked at Masoyi near White River. The vehicle was seized and the firearm will be send for ballistic testing.
"The arrested suspect is in police custody and police are still continuing with their investigation with an anticipation to make more arrests. The man will appear at the Mkhuhlu Magistrate's Court soon," Mohlala said.
IOL