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An attempted cash-in-transit heist was foiled in Mooinooi in the North West on Monday night when the driver managed to get himself and his armoured car to safety after coming under fire, police said on Tuesday.
National police spokesperson Colonel Brenda Muridili said the driver was shot at on the road towards Majakaneng at about 19:00.
With bullets hitting his vehicle, he came to a halt when one of the tyres was hit. He stopped the vehicle and waited for the robbers to approach him.
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As they came closer, he sped off on the flat tyre and only stopped when he arrived at a filling station to get help.
Majakaneng and Mooinooi are between Hartbeespoort Dam and Rustenburg.
"It is commendable," said Muridili of the driver's actions.
The company's name was not immediately available.
NIU swift reaction commended
In the meantime, police are still investigating the heist on a G4S armoured truck on Jakes Gerwel Drive near the Philippi police station, in Cape Town, on Monday morning.
Attempted CIT Heist.
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) June 18, 2018
Majakaneng/MooiNooi. Driver managed to drive off and stopped at a petrol station. Vehicle shot several times. pic.twitter.com/rzCqoZi9xR
"The police’s national intervention unit (NIU) responded swiftly to the crime scene resulting in a shootout between the robbers and the police; no injuries have been reported," said Muridili.
In that robbery, the attackers blew up the side of the van to get to the money, abandoning a BMW on the scene as they made their getaway from the bridge where the attack occurred.
Muridili said that acting national commissioner Lt-Gen Sindile Mfazi commended the NIU's swift reaction to the Cape Town heist, because robbers only got away with some of the money that was scattered at the scene after the explosion.
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"We have declared that the high density stabilisation operations, launched earlier this month, will utilise medium to high risk operatives hence the quick response by the NIU. We will continue to hunt down the perpetrators that continue to threaten the authority of the state," Mfazi said in a statement.
National commissioner Khehla Sitole is currently out of the country.
The Directorate for Priority Crimes, known as the Hawks, is investigating and anybody with a tip-off is asked to pass it on to Crime Stop at 08600 10111.
