Top detective slain in cash-in-transit heist shootout
● Grobler-Koonin known for work on women and child abuse cases
Prominent detective Delene Grobler-Koonin, who helped bust an international pornography ring, has been killed, together with another detective, in a gunfight with cash-in-transit robbers.
Grobler-Koonin was part of a Hawks’ technical operations management section (Toms) that arrived at the scene after a cash-in-transit robbery near Mahikeng in North West province on Thursday, a police statement said.
“The armed gang had shot and forced a cash security van off the road. The suspects were confronted as they blew open the van.
“The suspects retaliated and took off in different directions. In their attempt to escape, two of the vehicles faced off with members from Toms.
“During the shootout, Detective Warrant Officer Delene [Grobler-Koonin], 44, was fatally shot.”
The suspects managed to flee, a manhunt ensued and, later in the day, one suspect was tracked down and arrested at a Johannesburg hospital.
“Immediately thereafter a follow-up operation was launched in the North West town of Coligny, where the wanted suspects were confronted at a filling station by Toms members.
“The suspects retaliated with AK47 rifles, fatally wounding Detective-Sergeant Wynand Herbst, 42.”
Three suspects were killed and two seriously wounded during the gun battle at the filling station.
Later that evening a further two suspects were traced to Ventersdorp but they managed to escape.
So far, three AK47s, two 9mm pistols, a bakkie and a minibus have been seized, the statement said.
Working together with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Belgian police on Operation Cloud Nine, Grobler-Koonin helped crack an international porn ring with the successful prosecution of suspects in Grahamstown (Makhanda) and Plettenberg Bay.
She was also the investigating officer in the successful prosecution of former tennis star Bob Hewitt, who was convicted in 2016 of the rape of two teenage girls and the sexual assault of a third.
The police family violence, child protection and sex offences unit announced in 2018 that Grobler-Kooning would be taking over the rape case involving soccer boss and former Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Danny Jordaan.
Singer and former ANC MP Jennifer Ferguson laid a charge of rape against Jordaan for allegedly raping her in a Bay hotel in the mid-1990s.
Grobler-Koonin also worked on animal cruelty cases and the national office of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said on social media: “She was one of our animal heroes and a true hero of our country.”
The national head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya, expressed his condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the two slain detectives.
He promised to hunt down the fugitive members of the gang and said a bigger team under an experienced brigadier had been appointed to do so.
“Those who have information should provide it to the investigators or the police in general,” he said.
Police minister General Bheki Cele also expressed his condolences to the families and colleagues of Grobler-Koonin and Herbst.
“The apprehension of suspects, with three fatally shot and two injured, can only bring cold comfort to those who lived and worked with the slain members.
“We are, however, hoping that it will bring some kind of closure to the bereaved families,” he said.
Grobler-Koonin was married and had a son.
Bay attorney Tania Koen, of the Reeva Steenkamp Foundation, said yesterday that Grobler-Koonin’s death was a huge blow.
“The victims from the Hewitt case are distraught because they attribute so much of the success of that case to Delene’s work.
“As a foundation, we are also extremely saddened. We remember her hard work, not only on the Hewitt case.
“Her death is a real loss for SA.”
Another attorney, who asked not to be named, said Grobler-Koonin would be sorely missed.
“She was a fantastic investigator and absolutely passionate about what she did.”