SANDF respond to armed robbery

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Ady

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THREE robbers and a security guard were shot dead in a Wild Coast town yesterday in an almost surreal drama amid a military training exercise.

The gun battle took place in Port St Johns where a full battalion of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) was doing jungle warfare training.

The soldiers responded immediately to assist cash-in-transit guards under siege by armed robbers in the CBD – and in a tragic case of mistaken identity shot a plainclothes guard dead.

A bystander, 24-year-old Zimvo Mabanti, was injured when a bullet ripped through his left shin.

Chaos erupted at about 9am when a security guard pulling a trolley with a large quantity of cash was accosted by an armed robber. The guard was shot in the knee just as he emerged from the bank’s doors in Westgate Street.

A crime scene expert, combing the scene after the shootout yesterday, said another guard appeared from the bank as his colleague was struggling with the robber.

This is when the shootout between the guards and robbers started. “We are not clear about the number of suspects but three of them were already blue [dead] when we arrived,” he told the Daily Dispatch.

A military-issue R4 rifle with three magazines lay next to one of the dead robbers, and the small street was littered with empty cartridges. Terrified eyewitnesses and shop owners said it looked like a scene straight out of a movie.

The driver of the armoured cash truck earned the praise of onlookers when he rammed a silver Toyota Corolla, believed to be the robbers’ getaway vehicle, bulldozing it into a fence across the street.

It is not clear if the driver of the getaway car was shot dead or managed to get away. However, a body was found lying next to the car.

One robber was run over by the truck after he had been shot.

A shop manager, who did not want to be identified, said it was the area’s first robbery in eight years. “The driver was too good in the way he handled the truck. He went back and forth knocking the [getaway] car out of the road.

“The money [bag] was lying on the street and I actually saw him take the money into the truck.

“If it wasn’t for the guards, those robbers would have taken the money. They must be commended for doing a sterling job,” he said.

The battle lasted for quite a while before police and the training troops arrived, he said.

Speaking from St Elizabeth hospital in Lusikisiki, Mabanti said he had just finished loading bricks onto a truck when he heard gunshots and started running.

“I went under the truck but got out when the shots didn’t stop after five minutes and hid behind a shop because I realised this person might see me because my blood was spilling on the street,” he said.

Police on the scene said one of the dead robbers was wanted for a spate of armed robberies, including one in Elliotdale where a police officer was shot dead and another robbery in Mngazi Village near Libode last month.

In the mistaken identity shooting a security guard was killed by one of the soldiers while hiding under a car parked in front of the bank, said Lusikisiki police spokesman Captain Mduduzi Godlwana.

Godlwana said alongside the case of armed robbery they had also opened cases of murder against the soldier and the security officers. “No arrests have been made at this stage,” he added.

Police recovered an R4 assault rifle, an AK47 rifle, a 9mm parabellum pistol and .38 special revolver from the scene.

A cellphone and Toyota Corolla with registration NCW 21628 were also found on the scene. The shootout lasted for about an hour.

SANDF Colonel Thomas Hloka said members of the 5 SA Infantry Battalion from Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal were in the middle of a three-week jungle warfare training course near the old SANDF military base when they heard the gunshots. However, he would comment no further.

Witnesses thought more than 10 robbers were involved in the attack but Godlwana could not confirm this. He confirmed that other suspects had fled in a white Toyota Conquest.

A clerk said some of the robbers, including the security guard, were still alive and hiding under cars when the soldiers arrived and “finished” them off.
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http://www.dispatch.co.za/news/4-dead-in-armed-robbery/
 
So it would have been a happy outcome if the SANDF hadn't pitched up?

And what freaking jungle is there in Port St Johns?
 
Albereth said:
So it would have been a happy outcome if the SANDF hadn't pitched up?
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Speculation. Troops are not trained to deal with civilian law enforcement, they are trained for warfare where collateral damage is acceptable.


Albereth said:
And what freaking jungle is there in Port St Johns?
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I take it you have not traveled much in our country.
 
cbrunsdonza said:
Speculation. Troops are not trained to deal with civilian law enforcement, they are trained for warfare where collateral damage is acceptable.




I take it you have not traveled much in our country.
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It isn't speculation - the security guards were kicking ass until the troepies pitched up and shot one of the guards.

I've been to Port St Johns - it was a while back but I assumed that people kept the trees from taking over the town.
 
Compton_effect said:
A temperate rainforest called the Knysna-Amatola Coastal Rainforest.
You get them everywhere - America, Taiwan, Turkey, Iran, Japan, Ireland, Australia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperate_rainforest
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A tropical forest, by definition, exists between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Port St Johns is a tad south of Capricorn. It's also a town, not a forest. Unless you are telling me that the robbers had held up a branch.
 
Albereth said:
Again, if the SANDF hadn't pitched up, this would have been a happy story.
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Admit it - if they hadn't the headline would have screamed 'SANDF watches Armed Robbery happen'
The troops are not trained for policing like this, but they couldn't stand by. They responded, saw a group of uniformed security guards fighting off robbers, spotted a armed man in plain clothes and reacted the same way a police officer would have.
 
Albereth said:
A tropical forest, by definition, exists between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Port St Johns is a tad south of Capricorn. It's also a town, not a forest. Unless you are telling me that the robbers had held up a branch.
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(Sighs, pinches bridge of nose) Temperare Rainforest, bubba. Temperate.

SANDF Colonel Thomas Hloka said members of the 5 SA Infantry Battalion from Ladysmith in KwaZulu-Natal were in the middle of a three-week jungle warfare training course near the old SANDF military base when they heard the gunshots. However, he would comment no further.
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Maybe someone in the military planned the robbery, gone south, they acted and took out their own men :whistle:

...

When may the military in SA act within their own authority in situations like this?
 
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