The number of would-be robbers killed during a foiled cash-in-transit heist in Rosettenville rose to 10, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) said on Monday.
This after Police Minister Bheki Cele earlier confirmed that eight suspects were killed during the shootout.
IPID spokesperson Grace Langa updated the toll to 10, with five police officers wounded.
“12 rifles were found on the scene and about 100 bullets were found on the scene,” said Langa in a statement.
According to Cele, about 25 suspects were involved in the shootout after being cornered by police officers in their safe house in Rosettenville.
“As we were releasing the crime stats last Friday, we were under attack of the cash heists that keep going up in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. We don’t have too many groups that are dealing with this matter. There were about 25 of them, eight [now 10] of them are dead and eight are arrested,” Cele told Newzroom Afrika earlier on Monday.
“Surprisingly, without fail, except one who comes from Botswana, they all come from Zimbabwe and KwaZulu-Natal. Four of them are from KwaZulu-Natal, the rest are from Zimbabwe, and one from Botswana. They’re well armed and have AK47s, which means they’re there for the business. The surprising thing is the one who shot at the helicopter and injured the pilot assistant. We are working with heartless people that are prepared to kill. There are five cars that have been hijacked.”
The rest of the suspects were on the run.
Gauteng police commissioner Elias Mawela said they had been monitoring the suspects since last week. This after investigations revealed that the group had been monitoring a money truck for some time.
“Our team was monitoring them from last week. They didn’t commit the crime then, but decided to do it today and our team was right behind them. When they saw us, they rushed out to their safe house, that’s where our team, highly trained, dealt with them. These guys are real, hardcore criminals. The number of unlicensed and illegal rifles is about eight,” he told the news channel.
According to Netcare 911’s Shawn Herbst, two police officers were also shot during the incident.
“Shortly after 4pm, Netcare 911 received information regarding a shooting, possibly a hostage situation, at a location near the South Rand Hospital. When medics arrived on scene, there was a full gun fight that had broken out between the suspects, SAPS and JMPD. Two police officers have been shot, and found in a critical condition. Due to the nature of their injuries, they were airlifted to specialist hospitals in Gauteng,” Herbst told the news channel.
@Abramjee, Active crime scene at the Hill, Linmeyer area, on the same street as South Rand Hospital. 5 Robbers managed to hit #Saint Martin school. According to people on the ground, 2 managed to got away, 1 was injured & other 2 have taken a woman hostage in her house. pic.twitter.com/wMj7lJZCef
— Serge T. Moundanga (@SergeTachini) February 21, 2022
In other news – WATCH: Big Brother Mzansi housemates Venus and BU do it in the bathroom #BBMzansi
Week by week housemates on Big Brother Mzansi continue to reveal their true colours, in terms of, how they act when they are drunk especially after the Saturday night parties.
In the past weeks, nothing much was happening except for the lovers, Terry and Vyno who have been stealing all the spotlight with their romantic scenes. Yesterday viewers were taken by surprise after the ship of Venus and BU finally sailed. Learn More
