KwaZulu-Natal provincial minister of transport Bheki Cele on Tuesday applauded the police for the swift arrests of 24 alleged cash-in-transit heist gang members.
”The police had done a tremendous job and I certainly believe that, as the province, we will work tirelessly in decreasing the rate of crime, particularly the accelerating rate of cash-in-transit heists,” said Cele in a statement.
Police on Tuesday morning arrested the men, believed to be part of a gang that carried out numerous cash-in-transit heists in KwaZulu-Natal.
Serious and Violent Crimes Unit boss Director Johan Booysen said the 24 were arrested at the Umvoti toll plaza, on the N2 highway north of Durban, in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Three assault rifles, three handguns, three cash boxes and ”lots of loose money” was also recovered.
The 24 were expected to appear in court on Wednesday. Booysen said it was not immediately clear how much money had been recovered as it still had to be counted.
Booysen said the arrests followed a botched attempt to rob a cash-in-transit van in KwaMbonambi, 30km north of Empangeni, on Monday.
A local security company arrived on the scene as the robbers were trying to break into the van, which they had knocked over. A shootout ensued and the robbers fled. One of the security guards was shot and killed.
As the robbers made their getaway, they hijacked a local councillor’s car. Booysen said it was not known what had happened to the councillor, but as the robbers fled with the car they took his 10-year old daughter with. The car was found abandoned in Enseleni near Richards Bay. The child was unharmed.
Booysen said that during investigations on Monday afternoon, members of the Serious and Violent Crimes unit noticed a white Toyota Hi-Ace. They followed the Hi-Ace to the Umvoti toll plaza where it was stopped. The 10 men inside were arrested in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The remaining members of the gang were arrested at the toll plaza as they tried to pass through in a Hyundai, another Toyota Hi-Ace and a BMW.
Cele said recent statistics released had shown an increase in cash-in-transit heists in the province.
”Therefore we have realigned our strategies in ensuring that we tackle cash-in-transit-heists hands-on,” Cele said.
Cele further urged communities to help police in making sure that criminals were brought to book. — Sapa