Pretoria – The ten men who were arrested last month following an extensive shootout with the police in Rosettenville, are expected to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
During the previous appearance, on February 22, Hawks national spokesperson Brigadier Thandi Mbambo said the alleged criminals face an assortment of charges, including murder and attempted murder.
“They are facing eight charges of murder, attempted murder, possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition, possession of explosives and possession of hijacked vehicles,” said Mbambo.
“They were part of at least 25 suspects who were accosted during a Crime Intelligence-led operation where their alleged plans to commit a cash-in-transit robbery were intercepted by a multidisciplinary team led by the national task team in Moffatview, in the south of Johannesburg.”
Mbambo said eight suspects, who were part of the large group, were fatally shot.
“All SAPS members and a Johannesburg Metro Police Department member who were shot and injured during the ordeal are recovering well,” said Mbambo.
After the arrest of the 10 suspects, police also arrested Milton Sandile Gasa, who has since appeared before the Tembisa Magistrate's Court. His court case is yet to be joined with the 10 suspects in court.
The 42-year-old was accosted by police in the streets of Tembisa, and a 9mm was pistol found in his possession.
“Further investigation led to his place of residence where a search was conducted and the following recovered: four assault rifles, five pistols including the one found in his possession, rifle and pistols magazines, more than thousand ammunition, channel jammers, G4S and SAPS bulletproof vests and uniform,” said Mbambo.
“The suspect is believed to be linked to the group of suspects who were accosted on Monday the 21 February 2022 during a shootout in Rosettenville, which ended with the fatal shooting of eight suspects and the arrest of ten.”
During Gasa’s appearance, the court heard that he was a parolee.
Following the shooting, police watchdog, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), detailed a crime scene that spanned five places, nine high-calibre firearms, 10 stolen high-performance vehicles, and some of the alleged cash-in-transit robbers shot dead during the extensive exchange of gunfire.
The Ipid report confirmed that the suspects were planning to commit a cash-in-transit heist in Johannesburg when they were intercepted by a sea of police officers – some in the sky in a helicopter. The police had gathered intelligence over many days, watching the suspects closely before pouncing on the group.
Ipid said the group consisted of at least 25 people, and some managed to flee.
IOL