South African government minister and bodyguards robbed at gunpoint on major highway

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME
Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African police say they are on a manhunt for suspects who robbed a government minister at gunpoint and disarmed her bodyguards of their two pistols on a busy Johannesburg highway. The robbery allegedly took place while transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga’s bodyguards were changing a punctured in the early hours of Monday morning. Three gunmen allegedly appeared from bushes, ordered the bodyguards to lie on the ground before taking their firearms, and then pointing a gun at Chikunga and robbing her of some personal items. Chikunga and her bodyguards appear to have fallen victim to a known criminal strategy on some of the country’s major roads, where robbers place spikes or objects on the road to puncture a car tyre, and then rob the occupants.