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South Africa’s Crime Intelligence has over the years been criticised for being ineffectual. It’s ineffectiveness at preventing crime perhaps reached new levels recently when a man entered one of its offices and stole R1.3 million from it.
The brazen robbery was detailed in a recent crime report, City Press reports.
It said the robber simply walked into the Crime Intelligence Captive Office in East London on Friday, saying he had an appointment with Crime Intelligence officer Ntombekhaya August.
The publication reports that the man was taken to August’s office. He then showed her he had a gun and told her to put the money in a bag. He then reportedly told August that if she told anyone about the robbery, he would kill her family.
The lack of security in the Crime Intelligence office was laid bare by the report. The man was not searched when he entered the building and signed himself in as Giyese. After taking the money, he calmly walked out of the office without anyone noticing the large amount of cash in his possession.
The robbery is just the latest incident of money going missing from the Crime Intelligence coffers.
The unit is known for keeping large amounts of cash because it needs it to pay informants. Some of this money often goes missing, but there is little auditing done because of the secrecy around how much informants are paid.
In July 2024, a 48-year-old warrant officer appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court for allegedly stealing R134 000 from the Secret Services Account.
He was accused of forging the signatures of his superiors to be able to withdraw the money from the account.
After being arrested by the Hawks, he was charged with fraud, forgery, and uttering.
Although his case was postponed, the officer resigned from the service.
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