14 held for cash-in-transit heists
POLICE Minister Bheki Cele yesterday announced that 14 suspects have been arrested in connection with cash-in-transit heists in less than 24 hours.
Among those arrested was a suspect believed to be the second-most wanted cash-heist robber among South Africa’s 20 most wanted criminals.
Addressing the media at the national press club in Centurion, Cele said the arrests had been made barely a day after police foiled a cash-in-transit heist in Tzaneen.
One suspect died while three more were arrested following a shootout with police.
“Simply put, we are beginning to turn the corner… you must remember that for six years, crime intelligence didn’t have a head, now we have a head. For some time, the Hawks did not have a head, now they do,” Cele said.
“There are issues we have raised with the cash-in-transit industry… I’m not going to raise them here.
“We’ll be sitting down and putting down our presentation to them and hearing their presentation.”
Cele vowed to make South Africa safe and reverse the scourge of cash-in-transit heists, of which there have been 159 in the past six months.
Other issues touched upon included the revival of structures, including anti-corruption
‘FOR SIX YEARS, CRIME INTELLIGENCE DIDN’T HAVE A HEAD, NOW WE HAVE A HEAD’
as well as crime intelligence – those that worked would be brought back, Cele said.
Cele’s utterances came days after the police announced new strategies to deal with aggravated crimes including cashin-transit heists, murder, house robberies and assaults.
This includes the setting up of dedicated teams to track and arrest wanted criminals in these categories, as well as the deployment of office-bound officers to the streets to help tackle crime.
The minister was joined by Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole, new Hawks head Advocate Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya, Federations of Unions SA’s Frank Nxumalo, South African Banking Risk Information Centre’s Kevin Twiname, as well as Hlasinyane Motaung from the Motor Transport Workers’ Union. – IOL Staff