The robberies – five of which were in the Western Cape alone - occurred as grants by the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) were being disbursed to beneficiaries countrywide. 

Central South Africa was not exempt from this trend, with the Botshabelo Post Office in the Free State facing the same fate as its Western Cape counterparts. Head of national security at Sapo, Vossie Vos, has in a statement confirmed that in each armed robbery, undisclosed amounts of money were taken. It wasn’t all doom and gloom, with some arrests being made in connection with the incidents.

The Western Cape robberies took place at the Dunoon, Belhar, Charlesville, Pacaltsdorp, and Dan Bay post offices in Cape Town, George, and Mossel Bay respectively. Authorities managed to make arrests in connection with the Dunoon and Botshabelo robberies. Three men and one woman were nabbed in Dunoon, whilst in Botshabelo two suspects are in custody for their alleged participation in the armed robbery. In the latter incident, police are still in search of evidence linking the accused and their three accomplices, who are still at large, to the crime.

On Tuesday, five male suspects arrived at the Botshabelo Post Office located in Section E in a VW Polo just before midday, with one of them clad in personal protective equipment (PPE). The suspect in PPE informed security that they were there to fumigate the premises. Once let onto the premises, chaos ensued.

Free State police spokesperson, Motantsi Makhele says at 11:20 am, the armed gang of five entered the building ordering all staff to lie flat on the floor. They instructed one employee to open the safe which contained an undisclosed amount of money. Shortly thereafter they fled the scene with the cash in hand. In a twist of events, however, two of the suspects, aged 37 and 39, were cornered at a filling station in Thaba’ Nchu over ten kilometers from the crime scene. Authorities found a large amount of money in the vehicle.

Sapo’s head of security says the criminals’ modus operandi “vary continuously and the post office keeps its branch staff informed of all the modus operandi to ensure that they notice suspicious behaviour”. Vos further adds that statistics indicate that business robberies across the board are at their peak, at the end and beginning of a new month – implying this isn’t something that affects Sassa service points alone.

Sapo is in the process of improving security at all its branches via upgrading equipment. They prioritised the upgrades at high-risk branches first and are working their way through all the other branches.

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