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Rosettenville: Owner of house was warned against renting rooms to criminals
Neighbours say the house was a known hideout for criminals and police have previously failed to act on information.
A bullet-riddled house wall is seen along Friars Hill Road in Rosettenville, 22 February 2022, following a dramatic shootout the day before between the police and alleged criminals following a botched cash in transit heist. It is believed approximately 20 alleged criminals were involved in the gunfight. Eight men were killed and eight others were arrested, and four police officers admitted to hospital. Picture: Michel Bega
The house in which police killed eight Cash in Transit robbery suspects is apparently a known hideout for criminals and police have previously failed to act on information, according to neighbours.
The current owner of the house, a Nigerian national, moved in around 2017 and made alterations to the house, including adding backyard rooms and partitioning the main house for rental.
“He also built a tall wall around the property and our biggest concern was the kind of people that occupied the property,” community leader Agnes Skosana said.
She said two years ago they marched to the house with the intention to kick the occupants out and torch the property.
Skosana said on their way to the property, they were warned that they would be killed as the occupants were armed to the teeth and waiting.
She said the area was being overrun by criminal elements and that this was why most people were moving out.
Skosana alleges that police have had information about the house since the end of 2017 but did nothing, saying the situation could not have reached this deadly point.
“It is just a miracle that no one was caught in the cross-fire because this is actually a busy neighbourhood, with a school just across the road and a crèche up the road.
If the police could act on information soon, it will not get to this. We are not xenophobic but scared and concerned citizens,” she said.
According to police, at least 20 of the gang of 25 suspects were Zimbabweans and among the ten arrested was a Botswana national, believed to be the mastermind behind several hits on cash vans.
A former caretaker, who did not want to be named, said he had warned the owner of the property about accommodating criminals, especially drug dealers but he would not listen.
“I told him to be careful of people he rents out rooms to and that some were dealing drugs, but still the number kept growing so I moved out. I was at work when I saw the property on the news and said to myself this had been long coming” he said.
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