GIYANI – Two people were arrested, while four were still at large at the time of going to the press, following a cash-in-transit heist that took place outside the Giyani branch of Absa bank on Monday morning at about 09:15.

According to the spokesperson of the police in the Mopani Area, Capt Moatshe Ngoepe, the security officers of the Fidelity Guards Company had parked their vehicle outside the bank before the incident. They then started offloading cash from the vehicle.

In the process, six armed men emerged and pointed at the guards with firearms and demanded money from them. According to the police statement, the robbers managed to grab three boxes containing an undisclosed amount of money. They loaded the boxes into a maroon BMW and drove away in the direction of the Elim Hospital. About 20km away from the scene, one of the car’s tyres got a puncture.

The statement further indicates that, while the robbers were still busy changing the wheel, the police received information that the robbers were battling to get their car in motion. Moments thereafter, the police arrived at the scene. Five of the robbers fled and vanished into the surrounding bushes. One of them was arrested. The police recovered the three boxes containing cash, but at that stage, they were already empty.

The police managed to arrest another robber in the bushes on Tuesday morning. They also recovered two vehicles, a rifle that was allegedly used during the armed robbery, and some cash during the arrest of the second suspect.

According to the police statement, the recovered BMW was stolen from Edenvale in Johannesburg some weeks ago. The arrested suspects, aged 28 and 32, were still to appear in court when going to press.

The police have appealed to anyone with information relating to the incident to contact the nearest police sta-tion.