Cape Town - The crew of SABC1’s money-winning show, “Deal or No Deal”, were robbed at gunpoint in Langa of equipment estimated to be worth R1 million.
The incident occurred on Wednesday just as the crew was wrapping up a shoot at a house in Sigcawu Street, in the “New Flats” section of the township.
The crew was at the same house about three weeks ago, filming the progress made by one the winners of the game show, as part of the competition’s terms and conditions.
A crew member, who spoke on condition of anonymity over fears for her safety, said: “Two unknown men arrived while the crew was preparing to leave the set area. One of them pointed a gun at the waist of a colleague who was busy double-checking if no equipment was left behind. When this happened, the rest was already in the car.
“He was directed to their direction with the gun still pointed at him. The suspects asked them to hand over the equipment and when they were given two cameras they demanded the third one as well, together with their cellphones.”
The suspects are said to have driven around the township with the crew inside the car. They made regular stops dropping the equipment from house to house before abandoning them and fleeing on foot.
They got away with two FS7 cameras with 8 v lock batteries, an A7s III camera, a Sony 70 200 lens, an Atom monitor, a gimbal and all the accessories including a premix 10 and a Lectrosonics transmitter and receivers.
Councillor Lwazi Phakade said that he was not aware of the robbery and that the area where it happened was one of the hot spots in the area.
“This is my first time hearing about this incident but I can confirm that where it has happened there’s ongoing issues related to gun violence.
“Normally, we advise outside visitors to enter the area through the offices of the councillor or the Langa Safety Patrol team so that we can provide an escort for them.”
CPF spokesperson Yanga Kruthani said the details about the incident suggest that someone knew about the crew being at the house and that no security would accompany them.
“The details around this robbery are sketchy. To me it seems as if someone was watching the crew while at work and they noticed that there’s no security accompanying them. If they can track one of their belongings, we can at least try to retrieve them.”
SAPS spokesperson FC van Wyk said Langa police were investigating a case of armed robbery.
“According to the 32-year-old complainant, they were at Sigcawu Street, Langa, sitting in a minibus when two unidentified males positively armed with firearms approached them.
“They were threatened and robbed of cellphones and audio-visual equipment estimated at R1m. No shots were fired and no one was injured during this incident,” he said.
Anyone with any information can contact Crime Stop anonymously on 08600 10111.
siviwe.melapi@inl.co.za