Provincial commissioner welcomes the arrest of store manager and employees for allegedly orchestrating business robbery

The Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has welcomed the arrests of a Store Manager and two staff members yesterday, 30 January 2022, for allegedly planning and executing a fake business robbery in which an assortment of clothing and other items were stolen.

The Police received information that the local clothing shop at Chris Hani drive, Bela-Bela, has just been robbed by two unknown suspects. A snap Intelligence driven operation was activated to respond to the alleged business robbery. On arrival at the shop, they immediately commenced with the initial investigations which revealed that two men entered the store at around 09h40 and pointed the staff members with a firearm, demanding their cellphones.

The suspects took various clothing items and put them into big bags. The bags were then loaded into a motor vehicle which was later proved to be belonging to the store manager. They also took cash from the tills.

Further probe that was conducted in the vicinity led to the recovery of the stolen items from the said motor vehicle and a pistol that turned out to be an air gun. The manager and two female staff members were immediately arrested and charged with theft and conspiracy to commit a crime.

“The conduct of the members who visited the scene and the meticulous manner in which they went about probing this incident are highly commendable,” said Lieutenant General Hadebe.

“We take this moment to warn other people who might be planning to stage non-existent robberies that the police are capable of uncovering similar plans and bring the perpetrators to book.’ Concluded Lieutenant General Hadebe.

The three suspects, aged between 29 and 32 will appear in Bela-Bela magistrate’s court soon. The hunt for the two suspects is continuing.