A provincial police task team in Gauteng has been appointed to investigate a series of computer thefts from business premises.
Four business premises were held up within two weeks and computers and equipment worth hundreds of thousands of rands have been stolen, Captain Mashadi Selepe said on Tuesday. She said police were investigating the possibility that a syndicate dealing in computers was robbing offices, she said.
On Sunday the Johannesburg offices of Gauteng agriculture, conservation, environment and land affairs MEC Mary Metcalfe were robbed of computers and equipment worth R500 000.
Armed robbers held up and tied up two security guards between 11pm on Sunday and 2am on Monday, and made off with 50 computers. They also took a surveillance camera’s videotape.
Last week on Sunday a gang of armed robbers took vital computer equipment from the Johannesburg headquarters of the SA Press Association. Between five and ten robbers, one armed with a pistol, overpowered a guard at the gate to the association’s office park in Greenside, north-western Johannesburg. The other two robberies occurred in Blairgowrie and at the Rand Gold offices. – Sapa