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Johannesburg - Former Bafana Bafana striker Benni McCarthy thoughts were of his children when he was being robbed at gunpoint at a barber shop, his friend and agent said on Wednesday.
Percy Adams told News24 that after the robbery on Tuesday, Benni said to him that although these type of robberies were happening in South Africa every day, this time at least no one was hurt.
Adams had been the one who picked up McCarthy at the airport earlier that day.
"He said since this [robbery] has happened to him, there was [another] voice out there. He said he saw the image of his children in front of him."
McCarthy has four children, three with his first wife and one with his second wife.
Adams described how three men, who were very calm during the robbery, entered the barbershop on Corlett Drive one after the other.
The robbers were very calm and one came in first, Adams said. The man closed the sliding door and said he had a gun covered by a magazine. Then he cocked it so everyone heard the sound, and said: "If you don't move no one is going to get hurt."
"And a second one came in and said 'just sit, no one try anything, do what you are told. No one is going to get hurt'. And the third one came in, looked around and he went straight to Benni and said, 'take off your watch'."
The third robber then told McCarthy to take off his earrings and said to him: "Where is the nice wedding ring of yours?" McCarthy gave it to the third robber.
"And there was a gentleman who was sitting there who attempted to give them his stuff, and they told him to sit down and that they didn't want anything from him," Adams said.
"It lasted not more than a couple of minutes. It happens so quickly. It is [like] the end of your life and it takes forever, but actually it's quick-quick."
Adams said he has known McCarthy for 20 years and that the former Bafana Bafana striker having a distinctive voice and look that made him easily recognisable.
"In South Africa, it's very unlikely they didn't recognise Benni, with the robbers being around 30-years-old," he said.
"The fact that they physically went straight to Benni suggested they knew who he was. I mean, the guy busy cutting his hair, they pushed him aside, they didn't worry about him nothing, and they said to him 'Please make way'."
He said after the robbers took McCarthy's possessions, they left the shop and drove off.
On Tuesday evening, Gauteng police confirmed that the men robbed the shop around 13:00, and that they have fled the scene in a black BMW with unknown registration.
"A case of armed robbery has been opened for investigation," spokesperson Katlego Mogale said in a statement.
