Cops find loot in gang hide-out
2006-06-26 18:24
Johannesburg - Cash has been found in the Jeppestown house where four policemen and eight robbers died in a bloody shoot-out, said senior superintendent Mary Martins-Engelbrecht on Monday.
She would not reveal the amount, but it was believed to be tens of thousands of rands taken in an armed robbery at a Pick 'n Pay supermarket in Honeydew on Sunday.
A robber arrested there led police to his gang's hide-out in Jeppestown, where the shoot-out erupted.
He is likely to appear in court on Wednesday with the 11 surviving gang members who handed themselves to police, said Martins-Engelbrecht.
Investigators will decide on Tuesday whether they will appear in Johannesburg or Roodepoort magistrate's courts.
They were establishing and confirming the nationalities of the people in custody, but did not want to make this information public at this stage, she said.
13 firearms found at house
Detectives were doing profiles of the dead robbers to establish whether they had been implicated in other crimes, and Martins-Engelbrecht said police had reason to believe they were "responsible for several well-orchestrated crimes".
She said 13 firearms found at the house would undergo forensic and ballistic tests to determine whether they were linked to other crimes.
The four police killed in the clash were identified on Monday as: inspectors Frederick "Frikkie" van Heerden, 32, and Nzama Victor Mathye, 49, both of the West Rand dog unit; sergeant Gert Schoeman, 30, of the West Rand emergency response service; and constable Peter Francois Seaward, 31, of the Johannesburg dog unit.
Van Heerden's police officer wife, Leonie, was injured in the shoot-out.
'Displayed the utmost courage'
The deaths brought to 19 the number of police murdered in Gauteng since the start of the year, said Martins-Engelbrecht.
Captain Dennis Adriao said in a tribute from the office of national police commissioner Jackie Selebi: "All members on the scene, including the four who paid with their lives and the two who were injured, displayed the utmost courage and dedication to their duties.
"They were willing to forsake their own lives to protect the community,".
Gauteng community safety MEC Firoz Cachalia has slammed the criminality behind the shoot-out as "nothing less than a guerrilla war on society and law-abiding citizens".
"The organised manner in which these incidents are carried out demands an organised response from the police and we want to send out a message to these syndicates that the police will not be intimidated into retreat."
Where necessary, the police must use legally sanctioned force, he said with Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula.
"Criminals must feel the heat."
Chorus of tributes
Nqakula warned on Sunday that anyone who pointed a firearm at the police "will be killed by police officers".
The African National Congress added its voice on Monday to a growing chorus of tributes to the slain police officers.
Spokesman Smuts Ngonyama said: "The death of these dedicated police members in the line of duty is a source of great pain to all South Africans."
He called on South Africans to honour their memory by taking part in community policing forums, working as police reservists, providing police with information on criminal activities, and exposing corrupt police.
"South Africans need to send a clear message to armed criminals that they stand alone," he said.
The killing of a police officer was a direct assault on the country's people, he added.
The Democratic Alliance urged police management to offer counselling to members affected by the incident.
'Put themselves on the line'
DA spokesperson Anchen Dreyer said: "Most police officers are not offered counselling in the normal course of events. I believe these circumstances make it a necessity.
"Once again, police officers have put themselves on the line for our safety and risked theirs with tragic results.
"Their colleagues and families have our support, our admiration and our best wishes," she said.
- SAPA