JOHANNESBURG – In a dramatic turn of events during a police raid on a suspected cash-in-transit (CIT) robbers' safe house, a man was caught on CCTV cameras jumping over a wall and hiding a gun in a dog kennel before calmly engaging in conversation with a plainclothes police officer. The raid was a follow-up to a violent CIT robbery that had taken place just hours earlier in Ekurhuleni, which tragically claimed the lives of two bystanders.
The raid occurred on Monday at a house in Rondebult, a few kilometres from the scene of the robbery on Barry Marais Road in Dawn Park. Police had followed a tip-off from crime intelligence that led them to the alleged hideout. The robbery itself had been a chaotic event, with a group of eight armed robbers bombing the CIT vehicle and a subsequent shootout with security guards.
At the hideout, police recovered a number of key items, including a rifle, five magazines with ammunition, several stained banknotes, and two vehicles—a Mercedes-Benz and a BMW—that are believed to have been used in the heist. Kgomotso Zitha, the owner of the house, was arrested on the scene.
A neighbour, who spoke to Sowetan reporters on the condition of anonymity, described the surreal moment he witnessed the raid unfold. He was watching television on Monday afternoon when he heard voices coming from his yard. "My gate is always locked, so I opened the window and could see a person standing in my yard speaking with another person over my boundary wall," he said. The neighbour noticed the man was barefoot and immediately checked his CCTV camera monitors. "I saw another one carrying a gun and I was confused. I decided not to go out as it looked dangerous," he recounted. It was only later that he realised the man in his yard was one of the robbers and the person he was speaking to was a police officer.
According to the footage, the suspect, who remains at large, is seen jumping over the wall and quickly stashing the gun in a dog kennel. He then calmly approached the wall and spoke to the officer, pretending to be a concerned neighbour. After a brief chat, the officer left to rejoin his colleagues in the main raid.
The police have since arrested a second suspect in connection with the robbery. Hawks’ spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale confirmed that the suspect was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday and is scheduled to appear in the Germiston Magistrate's Court on Thursday. He faces charges of possession of a hijacked motor vehicle, possession of unlicensed firearms, and ammunition.
Sowetan reporters also spoke to one of Zitha's tenants at the double-storey house. The tenant, who also wished to remain anonymous, was confused when he returned from an errand to find the police raid in progress. "The police told me that they found two cars in the garage. I was shocked because the garage is always locked," he said. The tenant expressed his belief that Zitha was not involved in the heist itself, but rather was used to hide the getaway cars. "He was arrested, but he kept denying his involvement in the heist," the tenant added.
The incident highlights a continuing problem in South Africa. Dr Alice Maree, incident and analytical manager at the Cash-In-Transit Association SA, stated that nearly 130 CIT heists have been recorded since the beginning of the year, averaging about 16 robberies a month. While this represents an 18% decrease compared to the same period last year, Maree warned that the risk remains high. "[But] despite the continuing downward trend … the industry observes that CIT robbers released on bail or parole often return to CIT robberies. Therefore, the risk remains and requires ongoing vigilance and coordinated efforts from all," she said.
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