The case against the foiled heist perpetrators on Monday shows a growing trend among organised criminals where in some cases former SANDF members and police officials are involved.
A scene so large it had to be sectioned over multiple suburbs for forensic experts. So many people involved authorities battled to sort fact from fiction; deaths from survivors; arrested from escaped.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) and the South African Police Service (SAPS) have confirmed that no SAPS member was among the ten arrested or the eight suspects killed during the intense standoff that left the community in shock after Monday’s fatal shootout between law enforcement and cash-in-transit (CIT) heist suspects in Johannesburg.
A former soldier and member of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has been identified among the 25 people who were confronted by a multidisciplinary crime intelligence-led team at a safe house where it’s believed they were preparing for their next hit.
Ten suspects appeared in the Johannesburg magistrate’s court on Wednesday on charges of murder, attempted murder, possession of unlicensed firearms, ammunition and explosives as well as possession of hijacked vehicles and conspiracy to commit a CIT heist. The matter was heard in camera and postponed to 3 March 2022.
The law enforcement team confronted suspects in a safe house in The Hill near Rosettenville. A chopper hovered over the house and was the first to engage in a shootout with several suspects before ground support intervened. With more than twenty men scattering to escape, officials chased a number on foot while others made off in vehicles.
The report details how five suspects held a family hostage before another shootout took place. The cat-and-mouse chase went on for some time before police apprehended ten men, of which two were in a critical condition and rushed to hospital.
During the attempted escape another group of suspects hijacked another vehicle, before yet another shootout claimed a number of lives.
“The scene was big as it was a moving scene, [so] the crime scene was zoned into five crime scenes,” the report reads. More than a hundred bullet casings were recovered.
Among the arrested was a Botswana national and known mastermind behind several hits on cash vans. The Hawks in Limpopo said it was not the same man who appeared in the Mmabatho regional court in August. That man was arrested by the serious organised crime investigation unit, who linked the 22-year-old to various CIT and other robberies as well as an unknown number of police murders in 2020.
“Bodies of the deceased are scattered all over; we found some in people’s yards and outside neighbours’ gates,” said IPID spokesperson Grace Langa on Monday evening as forensic specialists combed the area.
Three police officers, including a pilot and a Johannesburg Metro Police officer, were injured.
“Various policing disciplines worked tirelessly through the night. Eight suspects were shot and killed, ten suspects were arrested, two of which are under police guard in hospital. The team also seized ten high-performance vehicles at an identified address as well as six AK47 machine guns, three rifles and explosives,” national police commissioner Khehla Sitole’s office said on Tuesday.
Sitole commended the CIT national task team, which was established in February 2020 after the number of brazen attacks on cash vans spiked.
“The team has been responsible for the arrest of 202 suspects who have been linked to CIT crimes, thirteen are among the country’s most wanted criminals who have been involved in a spate of aggravated robberies. To date, 178 high-performance vehicles that were mostly hijacked have been recovered as well as 104 firearms, which include 59 pistols and 48 rifles [that] were seized during arrests,” SAPS said.
Priority crime division the Hawks has also established its own team to investigate CIT crimes.
The case against the foiled heist perpetrators on Monday is among dozens of ongoing cases for CITs that the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) believes has become a growing favourite among organised criminals.
CIT heists are not new to South Africa. The number of robberies on cash vans has seen such a worrying uptick an organisation was founded to represent the interests of private security teams moving money.
The Cash-in-Transit Association of SA (Citasa) said it was formed out of need for collaboration between the CIT industry, law enforcement and other roleplayers in the CIT industry, and the identification of crime risks.
“The CIT association was founded after meeting with parliament’s portfolio committee on safety and security, police officials and management of the CIT companies in late 2017,” spokesperson Grant Clarke said.
Lockdown restrictions provided some relief for cash transit companies and their staff. This led to a brief 5% decrease in CIT robberies in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
However, Citasa said CIT incidents increased from 2019 to 2020 by 20% and from 2020 to 2021 by 8%.
In the last two months 50 heists have taken place across the country. A look through SAPS statements on these crimes reveals that many of the suspects involved are repeat offenders — including a recent heist attempt in Carletonville, in which a former SANDF member was among those arrested and who was already facing charges for a similar crime.
“Robbers committing CIT robberies are mostly repeat offenders. These robbers are receiving bail, [which] is a challenge because it allows them the opportunity to proceed with their criminal activities,” Clarke said.
A number of incidents have shown that former and current employees of CIT firms such as Fidelity and G4s are among the suspects implicated in crimes ranging from the sale of explosives to the hit itself.
“The risk of internal involvement is always present. Companies implement various security measures including vetting,” Clarke said.
South Africa’s latest crime statistics, released last week, showed 60 cash-in-transit robberies took place from October to December last year.
In 2018, the Institute for Security Studies said cash-in-transit robbery was one of the fastest growing forms of aggravated robbery. At the time, Sabric data found these crimes increased by 110% over four years.
A series of arrests after special operations over the past few months have yielded successes. However, the fact that repeat offenders are out on bail, including members of the SANDF and SAPS, pose a high risk of wiping out the successes. In July last year, a SANDF captain from Oudtshoorn was arrested for a CIT robbery at a petrol station on 19 July 2021.
Between October and November 2020 the Western Cape saw a 166.7% increase in CIT robberies.
On 12 February, an off-duty officer and a member of the SANDF were among 13 suspects arrested for a CIT robbery in Carletonville, Westonaria. Police said the SANDF member was out on bail for a similar crime.
In April last year, two warrant officers attached to the Hawks’ serious organised crime investigation unit appeared in the Johannesburg magistrate’s court on charges relating to stolen evidence at the scene of a CIT robbery in Langlaagte, Johannesburg.
“Although it is difficult and disheartening to arrest our own, it is also necessary to do so when members are involved in serious crime,” Hawks head Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya said at the time.
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