Armed thugs rob Cape mosque

Mogamat Shakier, treasurer at the mosque, said on Sunday he had gone to Vangate Mall in Gatesville, near Athlone, to buy supplies in preparation for the celebration, not realising he was being followed by four men. “I went to Gatesville to draw money and arrived back at the mosque at 12.45pm. I entered the kitchen area when three men stormed in and demanded money. One of them held a gun at me,” Shakier said.

The three men demanded his sunglasses, cellphone and car keys, and lifted his overcoat to take it by force when he tried to resist. They made off with Shakier’s cellphone, his sunglasses and R3 000 of the money he had withdrawn at the mall earlier.

”I tried to resist giving the money, but the gunman became aggressive. I’m glad I kept it together because I actually wanted to grab the gun from him. “When they tried to take my car keys, I dropped them behind the fridge so that they couldn’t take my car.” Shakier said the robbers then made off in a grey Toyota RunX, driven by a fourth man who had been waiting in the car. In the 26 years he has been a member of the mosque, he never thought his place of worship would be threatened by crime, he said.

After the robbery, Shakier had to do last-minute rallying for funds to pay for the food for the evening session of the Mawlid celebration. Despite the morning’s robbery, the mosque had a successful event. “What is scary is that these men showed no fear to enter a mosque of worshippers. Committing such a crime in a place of sanctuary is stooping to a new low level. The average gangster in Hanover Park would never consider doing something like this. We are dealing with a different kettle of fish when it comes to such criminals,” Shakier vented.

Prior to Saturday’s robbery, Masjidur Raghmaan congregants had to deal with minor problems such as shoes being stolen during the Friday prayers.

“We will have to be more vigilant now because of what happened. We need to fight this crime as a community because these people are not fearful of us or God.”

Philippi police station spokesman Lance Goliath said no shots were fired and no one was injured in Saturday’s robbery. “The motive is unknown and it is yet to be determined if it was gang- or syndicate-related. No arrests have been made and police are investigating a case of armed robbery,” he said.