/ 15 March 2007

Jo’burg hit in spate of cash-van robberies

Heavily armed gangs raided three cash vans in and around Johannesburg on Thursday, taking undisclosed amounts of money.

The first gang struck at the Midas store in Luipardsvlei, Krugersdorp, at 9.30am.

The three men had apparently been waiting inside the store when two unsuspecting guards went in with cash containers, spokesperson Captain Sphiwe Ndlovu said.

The men then took the money and fled the scene without firing a single shot.

Four hours later, two Coin security vans were attacked within 30 minute intervals in Emmarentia and Illovo.

In Emmarentia, three armed robbers slammed their Mercedes-Benz into a security van at the corner of Hofmeyr and Pafuri roads.

They are alleged to have then opened fire and forced the guards out of the van. They fled with the money in a BMW. Their Mercedes-Benz was abandoned at the scene.

None of the guards were hit by the bullets, but had to be treated for shock and minor injuries.

One guard was taken to Milpark Hospital as injuries he had sustained in a previous accident re-surfaced, ER24 said.

In the third incident, Coin security guards were attacked after collecting money from the Wanderers Golf Club in Illovo, Gauteng police spokesperson Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini told the South African Press Association.

No shots were fired during that heist and the men fled in two cars soon after taking the money.

Dlamini said police have not ruled out the possibility of a syndicate.

”But looking at the times in which the heists were carried out, it is possible that the incidents were not related, but we are investigating,” he said.

None of the gangs have been arrested yet. — Sapa