Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) head Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya on Sunday updated the nation on major investigations and successes in the first quarter of the financial year. | Siyabulela Duda/ GCIS
Durban — The Cash-in-Transit Association of South Africa (Citasa), a recognised voice in the cash-in-transit industry, has commended the police for their success in fighting cash-in-transit heists.
Reacting to the sentencing of three security guards who staged a cash heist to 190 years’ imprisonment, the association’s national chairperson, Grant Clark, said it was encouraging to hear of the conviction and commended police officers for expediting the case. Clark said such cases usually take long.
“We are happy with the work police have done so far in fighting cash heists in the country. Cash heist gangs are very sophisticated and well-organised. They are also heavily armed. We commend them for success in this dangerous war,” said Clark.
He said the association was disturbed that despite extensive vetting of all cash-in-transit employees, there were people such as these three guards who still planned the robbery.
Updating the nation on major investigations and convictions in the first quarter of the financial year on Sunday, Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation head Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya announced that on March 24, three security guards were found guilty and sentenced to 190 years in jail for staging a cash heist on April 30, 2021.
Colluding with a former security guard, the three Fidelity Cash Solutions guards were transporting cash in armoured vehicles from Port Shepstone to Kokstad on the lower south coast of KwaZulu-Natal after collecting cash from the depot.
Lebeya said that while travelling in convoy, one vehicle disappeared and the other one was intercepted by robbers. An undisclosed amount of cash was taken and the suspects fled the scene.
The case was reported at Harding police station and the case docket was allocated to the Hawks for intensive investigation. Seasoned detectives from the Port Shepstone Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit interviewed all the security guards who were robbed.
It was established that Bonginkosi Mabusela, 34, Phelo Mdleleni, 47, and Sinenhlanhla Mhlamvu, 33, were involved, he said, adding that it was also discovered that they had conspired with the former security guard, Zitha Nobhadula (deceased) and his accomplices to stage the robbery.
“Their houses were searched and R709 510 in cash was recovered. The four suspects were arrested and charged. They appeared in court and their bail application was successfully opposed. Nobhadula died in prison while awaiting trial. His three co-accused were found guilty on March 8, 2024. On April 19, 2024, the Izingolweni Regional Court sentenced Mabusela, Mdleleni, and Mhlamvu to a total of 190 years’ imprisonment for theft of cash as well as a staged robbery,” said Lebeya.
Criminals who bomb armoured cash vehicles are ruthless and do not value the lives of others, he said.
In this financial quarter, 55 cases of cash-in-transit (CIT) related crimes were reported and 34 suspects were arrested while seven suspects died during exchange of fire with police.
Other successes listed by the Hawks head were the conviction of Glebelands hostel police killer Siphakamiso Sosibo, sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of eThekwini metro police constable Nkosinathi Hamilton Ndlovu, who was killed in 2022 while off duty.
Another case listed by Lebeya was the arrest of uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) senior member Visvin Reddy for allegedly inciting violence where, in March, he allegedly threatened that there would be no elections if the MKP was not on the ballot. Reddy will be back in the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court this week.
Another feather in the Hawks’ cap in the province was the bust of counterfeit Smirnoff liquor worth R10 million in Pietermaritzburg. Lebeya said 12 suspects – Norman Lewis, 57, Bheki Ngwenya, 46, Dumisani Ndwandwe, 31, Mxolisi Mngomezulu, 44, Sibonelo Mathe, 22, Mthobisi Ndlovu, 36, Sipho Ndlela, 43, Minenhle Ngidi, 30, Lindelani Kunene, 36, Mduduzi Ngcobo, 41, Nkululeko Hlubi, 37, and Siyanda Shabalala, 39 – were charged with illicit manufacturing of liquor and contravention of the Counterfeit Goods Act. They appeared in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on April 8. The matter was postponed to September 12.
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