Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela said preliminary investigations suggested the group of men intended to rob different businesses in the area at the same time.

“Unfortunately, today they met their match. The businesses activated their security companies and the security companies activated their partners in the police, mostly the dog unit, and they responded,” said Mawela.

“We are happy [with] what we have seen thus far, because out of the whole group, we have arrested 11 and there are two fatalities.

“Some of them even tried to hijack nearby cars when they were trying to escape.”

Mawela said police recovered ten firearms, eight pistols and two AK47 riffles.

“The majority of them had firearms, even the ones that were laying on the ground had firearms,” said Mawela.

“You can see that they mobilised enough resources to hit as many businesses premises as they can, get what they want, and dash. Today was not their day.”

Mawela did not confirm whether the arrested group is the same as the one responsible for terrorising businesses across the Gauteng area recently.

“We are happy that we have managed to deal with this group because you can see that they intended to rob. There may be other groups elsewhere, but these ones, their business is to rob. We are happy that we have managed to deal with this group,” he said.

“There may be other groups elsewhere, but we will keep working with our partners, because they are going to keep us busy during this festive season.”

The Citizen