Stellenbosch law enforcement officials and members of the South African Police Services (SAPS) are believed to have intercepted suspected cash-in-transit robbers in Stellenbosch on the morning of 29 April. One person is believed to have been fatally wounded during the incident.
“Three suspects have been arrested and are in custody at Stellenbosch SAPS,” said Captain Nathalie Martin, spokesperson of Stellenbosch SAPS, via email correspondence.
The alleged robbers are believed to have been involved in a cash-in-transit heist in Macassar, Cape Town, earlier in the day, before escaping and making their way into Stellenbosch.
Martin confirmed that there was a cash-in-transit robbery in Macasser, which led to “a shootout” and two vehicles being hijacked in Stellenbosch.
“The vehicle came through Stellenbosch. There was a shootout here by Dorp Street and the R44,” said Reinhard Fourie, representative of the Stellenbosch Watch, in a voice note posted on a local neighbourhood watch WhatsApp group.
Stuart Grobbelaar, spokesperson for the Stellenbosch Municipality, has confirmed to MatieMedia that there were “[r]eports of shots fired in Dorp Street with a fatality reported”.
“SAPS and forensic teams are on site, a section of the R44 through Stellenbosch is temporarily closed (both ways) as the forensic teams conduct their work,” said Grobbelaar, at the time of writing.
The minibus taxi that is believed to have been involved in the cash-in-transit robbery in Macassar, Cape Town. MatieMedia photographed it on the corner of Dorp Street and the R44 in Stellenbosch. PHOTO: James Cameron Heron
Video footage was circulated on social media on 29 April, showing what is believed to be the cash-in-transit robbery in Macassar, Cape Town. The suspects fled the scene of the alleged robbery and headed towards Stellenbosch with an undisclosed amount of money.
Brandaan Huigen, a Stellenbosch resident, told MatieMedia that he overheard the incident, as he lives next to the R44.
“[I] heard a hail of bullets going off,” said Huigen.
The vehicle believed to have been used as a getaway vehicle following a cash-in-transit robbery in Macassar, Cape Town. PHOTO: Alistair Seymour