‘THIS BUSINESS IS BRUTAL'

Transit heist heroes tell YOU how they kept calm in shock AK-47 attack

- JANA VAN DER MERWE & KIM ABRAHAMS

IT'S the stuff of action movies. Two guys in bullet-proof vests are in an armoured vehicle escorting a truck loaded with hundreds of cellphones on a busy highway. Suddenly, all hell breaks loose.

A car tries to force them off the road and a hail of AK-47 bullets thud into their vehicle. A dashcam captures all the drama – and the guys under fire deliver a performance Tom Cruise would be proud of.

But as many South Africans know, this is no fun flick.

Behind the wheel is former police task force officer Leo Prinsloo (52). Next to him is colleague Lloyd Mtombeni (35), on only his fourth day on the job. Their mission is to make sure the transit truck safely delivers its valuable cargo – and the people attacking them want that loot badly.

The men’s cool, calm and collected demeanour captured the country’s imagination and turned them into heroes when the video of the attempted heist went viral.

“It was chaos,” Leo tells YOU. “When something like this happens, it’s not just an incident – it’s war. These guys don’t just fire one or two shots. It’s maximum violence. That robber isn’t there to warn or deter you. He’s there to kill you.”

The only way to handle a situation like this is with precision, he adds.

“It’s all about your fight-or-flight reflex. Time slows down. Your brain gives your muscle memory the time to kick in.

“It was f*****g crazy – like a tsunami. You know, many of us in this business don’t like the attention. We just want to get the job done and move on.”