Pensioner shot dead by 'mistake' at ATM

Eyewitnesses have recalled how a pensioner was hit by a stray bullet in front of his grandson after a cash-in-transit security guard had an altercation with a young man at a shopping centre at the weekend.

Saturday's tragic incident happened at the BBQ Square at Ecaleni Section in Tembisa on the East Rand.

Eyewitnesses said the 67-year-old man had been standing in a queue at an ATM when the shooting happened.

Jeffery Mazinyo said he was standing just three spots behind the deceased, and that everything happened so fast.

“The old man was withdrawing money when the security [Fidelity] van arrived. They asked us to move aside and all of us did, but there was this young man who started arguing with the security officers.

“The shot rang and everyone was screaming. The man ran away. The old man was on the ground. These guys [security guards] don’t trust anybody and I heard the guard saying he shot him. He said it was an accident,” said Mazinyo.

He said the security guard tried to stop the old man's bleeding by pressing on his chest to no avail.

“He kept shaking him, telling him to wake up. You could see the panic and fear on this security guard's face. They [guards] eventually left, and the man was already dead by then. The ambulance and police arrived long after,” said Mazinyo.

Gauteng police spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo said a 32-year-old security officer appeared in court on a charge of murder on Monday.

“It is alleged that on Saturday at 10am, the security officer was asking people to move [away] from the ATM. One of the males refused and the security officer pushed him away. It was then that the firearm of the security officer discharged and the bullet hit the deceased, who was nearby,” said Masondo.

Fidelity Security spokesperson Charnel Hattingh said there was an internal investigation as per normal processes.

The pensioner's family declined to speak to Sowetan.

Another eyewitness said the young man was arguing with the security guard and didn’t want to follow instructions.

“He [young man] seemed like he was up to no good. And we all know how those guys [guards] are in such situations, so he started getting angry and pushing the boy while his hand was on the gun," said the witness.

The victim's neighbours described him as a man who didn’t like noise and always kept to himself.

A neighbour who asked not to be named said he last spoke to the pensioner just moments before he died.

“I was on the way to withdraw cash myself and I passed him on the way. He was just coming out of the house with his grandchild and I greeted him. We spoke just for a while, enough to know he was heading to the ATMs at the shopping centre.

“I went to withdraw at the Engen garage instead but found that it [the ATM] was broken, and I knew there was always a queue at the ATM at the square, so I decided that I would go back later. It was when I was coming back home that I heard the shots and later found out it was malume [uncle] who had been shot,” said the neighbour.

Another neighbour described the pensioner as a man who wouldn’t cause trouble to trigger such violence.

“From our understanding, it was a pure accident and those security guards are always on edge, so there is no way the old man could do something to trigger them in any sort of way. I heard from the family that the weapon was not even pointed at him and it’s really horrible what happened,” said the neighbour.

Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority spokesperson Mpho Sechoaro said firearms should be used as a last resort in all incidents.

“The use of a firearm is only permitted when your life is in imminent danger without any other option being available."