Shoot-out in Stellenbosch after foiled cash-in-transit heist at Macassar

A cash-in-transit heist which started in Macassar, Cape Town, on Thursday ended in a shoot-out with the police in Stellenbosch.

Reports emerged at midday of a heist at the Macassar shopping centre involving several robbers armed with assault rifles.

Videos, purportedly depicting the heist, showed men unloading bags from an armoured cash-in-transit van while others pointed firearms at the vehicle’s occupants.

The shopping centre is adjacent to the Macassar police station.

The suspects fled towards Stellenbosch and Kayamandi township. However, one getaway vehicle turned into one of the main streets in Stellenbosch and there was an exchange of gunfire.

Stellenbosch municipality spokesperson Stuart Grobbelaar said one fatality was reported after the shoot-out in Dorp Street.

“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. Motorists travelling in the area are advised to use alternative routes,” said Grobbelaar.

National police spokesperson Brig Vish Naidoo said in a statement later on Thursday that a policeman and a security guard were wounded and three suspects subsequently arrested when police foiled the heist.

“A group of armed men attacked a CIT vehicle in Macassar and wounded a security guard in an attempt to rob the vehicle,” said Naidoo. “Police reinforcements comprising local police, TRT and air support responded immediately, foiling the robbery, but a chase and a shoot-out ensued, creating multiple scenes between Macassar, Mfuleni and Stellenbosch in which a 39-year-old police sergeant was wounded.

“The suspects were tracked down to Khayamandi taxi rank in Stellenbosch. Three suspects were arrested and five firearms, including three AK-47 rifles, as well as five vehicles were seized in Stellenbosch. Two of the vehicles had been hijacked by the suspects as they fled the Macassar scene.”

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