Polokwane’s city centre was the scene of a cash-in-transit robbery when an undisclosed amount of money was stolen by four suspects on the corner of Thabo Mbeki and Bok streets on Saturday morning.
Recent posts by Police in Limpopo indicate that cash-in-transit robberies have become a worrying factor as several incidents have been reported over the past three months. Provincial Police Spokesperson Moatshe Ngoepe said after Saturday’s incident that a 29-year-old employee of G4S went into a local business to collect money.
When he returned to the security vehicle he was confronted and held at gunpoint by four armed men. The suspects allegedly took the money cases and fled in a silver Volkswagen Golf with false registration numbers as revealed by preliminary investigations, Ngoepe said, adding that no arrests had been made yet.
In the meantime a 39-year-old suspect believed to be the mastermind behind a recent cash-in-transit robbery was expected to appear in the Phalaborwa Magistrate’s Court last week after being arrested outside Burgersfort last Wednesday.
Ngoepe said the suspect was arrested at a house at Bothashoek outside Burgersfort during a joint tactical operation. A R4 assault rifle, three magazines, a Police 9 mm Berreta pistol, over 100 rounds of live ammunition and five cellphones were confiscated, according to Ngoepe.
The suspect was allegedly involved in a cash-in-transit robbery on the R71 between Tzaneen and Phalaborwa on 1 August. A G4S vehicle was allegedly accosted by three vehicles with approximately ten occupants who used explosives to blow up the vehicle subsequently fleeing the scene with an undisclosed amount of money, Ngoepe recalled but could not indicate whether the suspect had appeared before court yet.
Story: RC Myburgh
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