Cape Town – Two days after customers and staff at the Spur in Tyger Valley Shopping Centre were robbed at gunpoint, a similar scene played out at the Spur in Mountain Mill Mall in Worcester, Western Cape, on Tuesday morning.
Marie-Lee Visser told News24 that she had gone to the Worcester Spur, with her 2-month-old son, at around 10:00 for breakfast.
“Moments after entering two ‘armed’ men had entered screaming ‘get down, get down’,” she said.
Clutching her son a traumatised Visser hid behind a wall.
She said: “The men walked around demanding money and cellphones from the customers.
“I was so scared that they would shoot my son. I heard about the shoot-out at the Tyger Valley Spur on Sunday, which made me even more scared.”
Visser said minutes after the alleged robbers left, they returned with the items they had stolen.
“We were then told it was a staged robbery to see how Spur’s staff would react is a real one had to take place,” she said.
The distraught mother said it was a terrible experience, especially if it were a staged one with unknowing customers seated at the eatery.
The manager at the San Diego Spur in Worcester had confirmed the event when contacted by News24, but when asked for further details hung up the phone.
Spur’s CEO Pierre van Tonder, initially said he was unaware of the incident, but after further investigation, told News24 that the incident was in response to staff’s reaction two weeks ago when a man carrying a licensed weapon had entered the restaurant.
“This morning they had a waiters’ meeting to address the issue, but apparently the manageress, after letting customers in, thought it 'funny' to yell robbery,” he said.
He said this had caused pandemonium with the few customers who were in the restaurant.
Van Tonder said the owner had then engaged with the customers and had tried to explain what had just happened.
“The manageress will face a formal disciplinary hearing.”
A clearly ruffled Van Tonder said they would assist the traumatised customers in any way they could.
- News24
