Publications
Partners
Durban - An Eastern Cape police officer was gunned down on Friday in the latest in a string of violent robberies to target pension payout points.
The brutal heist, which ended in a hail of bullets at a Boxer Store in Mount Fletcher in the Eastern Cape, follows two similar robberies in KwaZulu-Natal just two days before.
Constable Martin Bulelani Dlamini, 38, was gunned down as he and his partner responded to the report of a robbery in progress.
A police statement said a group of as many as 10 men, armed with handguns and assault rifles, had stormed the store and held staff and customers at gunpoint.
“Mount Fletcher South African Police Service (SAPS) was alerted to the robbery in progress and dispatched a vehicle to the scene. When robbers saw the police vehicle approaching, they opened fire on the members,” the statement read.
“Constable Dlamini sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body and died at the scene. His partner was wounded in the leg and rushed to hospital. He is recovering and reported to be in a stable condition.”
The statement indicated that the robbers escaped using two vehicles in which they had arrived and also robbed a customer of his vehicle. This vehicle was later found abandoned in the Katkop area. The robbers took an undisclosed amount of cash and were still at large.
No-one had been arrested and police were following leads.
In another incident, police exchanged fire with men understood to be armed robbers in Msinga, KwaZulu-Natal.
Police spokesperson Colonel Jay Naicker said police were conducting a roadblock when three armed men opened fire.
“The suspects allegedly opened fire towards the police and fled the scene on foot.
"The police gave chase and are still searching for them. No-one was injured during the shooting. Their motor vehicle was checked and it was discovered it was not stolen. At this stage, a case of attempted murder will be opened,” he said.
It was believed the roadblock had been established near a pension payout point in anticipation of a robbery.
This week, heist gangs escaped with millions of rands after three robberies.
In one incident, an ATM at Boxer Store in Clermont was destroyed by a gang of men using explosives.
