Help needed to nab 24 wanted men
|Published
Johannesburg - These are some of the 24 most wanted, armed and dangerous men – believed to have been involved in bank and cash-in-transit robberies across the country.
Now the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric), Crime Line and the Hawks want your help in arresting them.
The list of criminals involved in the robberies since 2010 includes the areas in which they have operated and CCTV images of the men.
The trio of crime-fighting groups have been able to name four of the men in the images – Edmond Dube, Victor Dlamini, Mzolisi “Mzolisto” Mlembelele and Oscar Oliver Ndlovu.
Ndlovu is wanted in connection with six robberies across Joburg and Pretoria, making him the most prolific criminal on the list, as far as is known.
“We do not exclude the possibility that they are linked to several other crimes,” Crime Line co-ordinator Marisa Oosthuizen said.
Most of the 28 crimes detailed in the list are from Gauteng (79 percent), followed by the Free State (11 percent), and North West and Limpopo with 5 percent each.
Some of the criminals are already linked together at various locations, including one who has been linked to bank robberies in Diepsloot and Welkom.
The most recent incident detailed on the list was in Roodepoort on September 18, when a Coin security guard was wounded by three men while he collected two cash boxes.
The incident was caught on CCTV and the men apparently fled in a silver Hyundai with the registration number BD 54 DB GP.
“The footage we released shows how these dangerous criminals operate with impunity and no respect for life or property,” said Oosthuizen.
The CCTV footage inside the petrol station’s shop shows two men hanging around a fridge. Moments later, the Coin security guard walks past with a strongbox and the robber approaches him, pulling a handgun from behind the newspaper in his right hand.
The guard swats away at the newspaper, then shots ring out and the man’s accomplice grabs the strongbox as a third robber enters the store.
The three fire several shots at the guard clutching his face on the ground.
Although banking crimes had dropped by 7.4 percent from the same time last year, Sabric warned people to be vigilant when carrying large amounts of cash to or from the bank.
“The figure still remains very high; the problem is by no means going away,” Oosthuizen said.
Sabric said that according to their stats, bank robberies are down by 67 percent and burglaries by 12 percent.
* If you have any information, send a detailed, anonymous tip-off to Crime Line’s 32211 SMS number (cost R1), call Crime Stop at 08600 10111 or submit information online at www.crimeline.co.za.
The Star