Cash looted as gang hits van

Gauteng police are on the hunt for a heavily armed gang which attacked and robbed a G4S cash van in Soweto on Monday.

According to national police spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe, the cash van was attacked about 9.30am in Jaca Road, Dobsonville Extension 3, by the gang.

“It’s alleged that a group of heavily armed men travelling in a red Jeep with false number plates drove into the van, forcing it to come to a halt. They thereafter ordered the three security officials out of the vehicle, where they later bombed the cash van and drove off with an undisclosed amount of money,” said Mathe.

The men then fled the scene in a Golf 7, an Audi A4, a Ford Ranger and a BMW 1 series, Mathe added. No injuries were reported. Videos and pictures circulating on social media of the incident show a burning vehicle on the road, groups of people scaling the cash-in-transit van next to the burning vehicle to get to the money, while onlookers watch.

No arrests have been made and police issued a stern warning about the looting of cash-in-transit crime scenes.

“It is often seen in videos posted on social media platforms that money at cash-in-transit heist crime scenes is being looted. We are appealing to community members to refrain from such criminality,” she said.

“When a crime is committed, it is the responsibility of the community to report the incident to the police by immediately calling the Crime Stop Number on 086-00-10111, or to report the matter to their nearest police station.”

She added that cash-in-transit heist crime scenes could be very dangerous, especially if explosives are used.

“It is for this reason that we warn members of the community that in some instances, it is possible that not all explosives were detonated at the time when the robbery was committed.

“This therefore poses a risk for the detonator to explode in their presence.”

She also said those looting at such crime scenes were contaminating the scene, which constituted a crime of theft and defeating the ends of justice. – News24 Wire