A manhunt was underway on Tuesday for a gang of up to 12 men who robbed a Fidelity Guards cash van of an undisclosed amount of money on Tuesday morning, police said.
Captain Schalk Bornman said the Fidelity Guards vehicle was travelling from Krugersdorp to Johannesburg on the N12 freeway around 8am when a white Mercedes Benz forced it off the road near the Soweto off-ramp.
The van overturned and two BMWs, a Nissan bakkie and an unidentified bakkie stopped next to it. The gang, wearing balaclavas and carrying rifles, jumped out and forced the van roof open with special equipment.
The three guards inside the vehicle were injured, one of them critically, and were taken to Milpark hospital for treatment.
No shots were fired and no-one else was injured. Bornman said the robbers took a number of cash boxes and fled in two BMWs and one of the bakkies. The Mercedes Benz and Nissan bakkie were left on the scene.
About a kilometre away a Johannesburg Metropolitan police officer had his firearm, cellphone and hand radio stolen by the cash robbers while he was parked next to the freeway.
Three vehicles allegedly used in the armed robbery were recovered near the Southgate shopping centre. It was established that the Mercedes Benz used in the heist was stolen last week at Meyersdal while the Nissan bakkie was hijacked earlier on Tuesday also at Southgate.
Bornman said anyone with any information that could assist police to trace the robbers was asked to contact the investigating officer Captain Diericks on 082-809-1905. – Sapa