WATCH | 'Rolex gang' hits Joburg petrol station, robs German tourist

17 January 2019 - 12:15 By Nonkululeko Njilo
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It took less than a minute for the so-called "Rolex gang" to steal a watch off the wrist of a German man at a Johannesburg petrol station. This happened in full view of other motorists and petrol attendants.

The incident began when Jorben Bumann and his wife went shopping at Sandton Cityfollowed by a silver SUV last Wednesday. 

The duo, who were in a hired white Toyota Corolla, passed by a petrol filling station in Honeydew to fill up the tank and return the car.

In a series of videos, they can be seen entering a garage and a petrol attendant helping them.

A few other cars passes by and finally a silver SUV car enters the station and parks behind Bumann’s vehicle.

Seconds later four men jump out of the silver SUV and surround his vehicle and steal his Rolex watch and a wallet from the driver’s window. The men quickly drive back to their car and drive off.

The first thing they said to him was “bring your watch, wallet and phone” while grabbing the car keys, said Klaus, Bumann’s father.  

Klaus said his son, who has since returned to Germany, was hit in the face and was left bleeding. The men also fled with the car keys, leaving them stranded for hours.  

Klaus told TimesLIVE he was outraged and disappointed by the manner in which the police handled the incident. 

He recounted how the police were called to the scene, but only arrived later and did not open a case. 

“A few days after the incident, we went to check up on the progress of the case and to our surprise were told there was no case opened,” he said. 

Klaus further added that he made several attempts to share video footage from the station to serve as evidence to help with the investigation, but that did not help.

“The officer said they would go to the garage and get it themselves,” he explained.

The Honeydew police spokesperson, Balan Muthan, reassured that an investigation was already underway, further saying that the only case that had been opened was that of pointing a firearm. 


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