The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) raided the offices of the Gauteng education department in Marshalltown, Johannesburg, on Wednesday morning.
Nine Hawks officers were spotted entering the department’s building on Hollard Street in the central business district of Johannesburg at about 10am.
Workers in the department carried on with their regular work when Sunday World paid a visit to the office building on Wednesday morning.
Employees refuse to comment
The Hawks’ unexpected raid appeared to have no effect on them.
When asked about the raid, the department’s employees — whose MEC is Matome Chiloane — refused to comment.
At about 11am, an hour later, a Hawks officer was observed carrying a box as he emerged from the building.
The officer carried the box to his official state vehicle and put it in the car’s boot. It is unclear what was inside the box.
The officer then returned to the office building after retrieving some documents from his vehicle.
Desktop computers seized
Afterwards, at 1.15pm, nine Hawks officers were observed leaving the department’s office building with desktop computers inside of marked plastic bags.
It is unclear how many desktop computers were seized. The plastic bags were placed in the boot of a state vehicle.
When asked for a comment, they declined and directed Sunday World to Colonel Katlego Mogale, the Hawks spokesperson.
We posed enquiries to Mogale regarding the rationale behind the raid.
Steve Mabona, a spokesman for the Gauteng education department, had not responded at the time of publication.
Once we have it, we will include both his and Mogale’s responses in the story.
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