Mpumalanga police have arrested two suspects believed to have been involved in a botched cash-in-transit (CIT) robbery. The incident occurred on Monday near Delmas.
Police said in a statement that two security guards were in a cash delivery van when they came under fire from a gang of heavily armed suspects. During the exchange of fire, two robbers were fatally wounded.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Manamela said: “After the police were alerted [about the planned robbery], they rushed to the scene, where they ended up in a shootout with the suspects.
“The police defended themselves and two suspects were critically shot while other suspects reportedly hijacked a Toyota Quantum minibus to escape. The police managed to give chase and arrested the two suspects aged 24 and 34.”
An unknown number of other suspects managed to flee and the manhunt is under way. Manamela said the two suspects who were arrested face charges of robbery, possession of firearms, ammunition, and explosives.
Manamela applauded the police in Delmas for their swift response, and the arrest of the two robbers. Police also confiscated a rifle, magazines, jamming devices, and police radios.
The police also impounded a white Porche Cayenne and silver BMW SUV which were allegedly used by the suspects as getaway cars.
The botched CIT robbery in Mpumalanga follows another one in Rosettenville, Johannesburg on Monday last week, where eight suspects were killed during a shootout with the police.
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