TWO SA National Defence Force officers were held up and robbed of about R1,725-million in United States dollars and their state-registered VW Golf in the Pretoria city centre on Tuesday afternoon. The money was apparently meant for SA soldiers on duty in Burundi, police said on Wednesday. Police representative Inspector Percy Morokane said the officers had gone to the Absa bank on the corner of van der Walt and Pretorius streets to buy the foreign currency. They were returning to the car in the basement parking when they were held at gunpoint by between six and eight armed men. The robbers took the money and fled in the soldiers’ vehicle and a blue BMW. No shots were fired. The BMW was later recovered in Prinsloo Street, two blocks from the scene. The VW Golf has not been found. No arrests were made. – Sapa
Tuesday February 5, 2001