ISPHANDLA failed to shield cash-in-transit (CIT) criminals in Randfontein, Gauteng.
A suspected CIT robber was killed in a shoot-out with the police in early hours of Monday morning, 19 February.
The shoot-out ended with one suspect dead, two arrested and others managed to escape with a cop injured on his arm.
Major-General Fred Kekana, who is the West Rand district commissioner, told Daily Sun that they had an intelligence driven operation and intercepted with other law enforcements and were monitoring a group of criminals who were trying to do a cash in transit heist and wanted to rob a vehicle transporting gold from the West Rand to a specific destination.
“The team has been monitoring them for a long time and at about 4am this morning, the group of thugs were in a car wash in Randfontein to do hopefully a final planning of executing their mission and were unaware that all along the police have been following them,” Kekana said.
ALSO READ: Homeless 'tenants' rent from the dead!
When the alleged criminals noticed that the police were driving in, they allegedly started shooting at the police.
"We recovered an R5 rifle with three magazines and numerous rounds in two bags. Police pursued fleeing vehicles and apprehended two suspects outside Umphakathi mall, seizing another R5 rifle with three magazines.
"Four suspects in total, one deceased, three in custody. A Mercedes-Benz E230 used as a getaway vehicle was abandoned nearby. Additionally, three other vehicles linked to the suspects - a BMW M3, a Toyota Tazz, and a Golf 1 - were confiscated," Kekana said.
The origin of the deceased suspect is still under investigation.
One of the arrested suspects is connected to three other cash-in-transit heists and was convicted for the same offence in 2008 in Ulundi. He hails from Newcastle but had been staying with his sister in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni after his parole.
When the SunTeam visited the scene, they discovered that the criminals had iziphandla which they allegedly were using for protection.
