Linden residents are living in fear after congregants of a local church were robbed of their cellphones and money during a church service on Sunday.
The shocking news was revealed by residents and congregants who did not want to be named for fear of victimisation.
Residents alleged that the congregants of Christian Library and Health Service church were in the middle of a Sunday service, when a group of armed thugs blitzed into the building and fired several warning shots in the roof and damaged it.
Ironically, the church building is located a heartbeat away from Linden police station.
The suspects then ordered the frightened congregants and their pastor to lie down.
As they were lying down, the riff-raffs confiscated their cellphones, money and wallets containing bank cards before fleeing the scene in a getaway car that was parked near the church building.
The suspects drove towards the direction of Johannesburg city centre.
One of the congregants, who did not want to be named, said a few minutes later they were able to track the location of their cellphone, which was in Yeoville.
After verifying the location of the cellphone, they rushed to Linden police station and reported a case of robbery.
They even shared the location of the cellphone with the police and begged them to locate the address and comb the area and possibly arrest the suspects.
“But the police refused to go to where the cellphone was, arguing what if the suspects [had] switched the cellphone off before they could arrive there.
“When they asked them to phone the nearest police station to tail the suspects, they refused. I think our police officers fear these tsotsies,” said the frustrated resident.
A congregant, who did not want to be named, said the suspects, a few hours later, accessed the banking apps of their cellphones and transferred money into the accounts of their associates, whose names reflected on the victim’s bank statement. They also sent money to various cellphone numbers, which also reflected on the bank statement.
“We brought this information to the police but still they were unable to trace the name of the account holder and the owner of the cellphone number that received the money,” said a congregant.
Another congregant said she would no longer set foot in the church building for safety reasons. “We are no longer safe in our church buildings. I will now pray at home. I’m still traumatised by what has happened to me. Guns in church?
“What happened to us black people? We have lost our moral compass; it hurts. We even rob people in the church during church services.” Another congregant has called on South Africans who are gatvol with the spiralling crime rate to stand and fight.
“The state is failing us; crime is spiralling out of control and the state is failing to protect its own citizens from these criminals.
“Stand up and defend yourself, let us reclaim our streets from these thugs because they have taken over,” said the congregant.
The hair-raising incident comes a few weeks after Pastor Dwayne Gordon, a guest preacher at Eagles Christian Centre in Newlands, Johannesburg, was shot dead and three other congregants were injured.
This after a gang of armed men stormed the church and opened fire a fortnight ago.
Gauteng provincial police spokesperson Mavela Masondo confirmed the robbery and said police were on the hunt for three suspects.
