A gang of 17 robbers cut an ATM out of a wall in Qumbu on Sunday and fled in the dark into the hills in a hijacked bakkie with the mangled cash box.
But police managed to catch up with the fleeing suspects, and after a gunfight –with the suspects shooting at the police with a suspected AK-47 and handguns – the robbers fled, leaving the hacked ATM behind.
No injuries were reported but spent cartridges at the scene told the story of the shootout.
This latest ATM robbery at a South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) machine, happened outside Qumbu’s Boxer Superstore on Sunday at 8pm.
Mthatha police spokesman Captain Dineo Koena said it appeared the suspects used an angle grinder to cut the ATM from the wall and then removed the machine’s cash shell or safe. “When they were done, the suspects hijacked a Toyota Hilux and all of them got into it. They used the bakkie as a getaway vehicle,” said Koena.
But there was a quick response from about 15 police officers from Mthatha and Qumbu’s K-9 units, said Koena.
“A high-speed chase ensued on a gravel road leading towards Matyameni village,” she said.
“Realising they were cornered, the suspects abandoned the vehicle and opened fire on the police.”
Koena said the police managed to recover the ATM’s cash shell, which was still unopened, plus the dusty grinder and hijacked vehicle.
Police are unable to estimate how much money was in the safe.
In May last year, the Hawks in the Eastern Cape announced a breakthrough in tracking down a suspected ATM bombing syndicate, when they nabbed five suspects.
At the time, Hawks provincial spokeswoman Lieutenant Anelisa Feni said they were trying to link the five to a spate of ATM bombings throughout the country.
Within a few weeks of these ATM attacks, another ATM, belonging to Capitec, was blown up using homemade explosives in East London. The robbers fled the scene in a red Nissan bakkie with R13000 in cash.
In June last year, two ATMs were bombed in Ntlaza near Libode in the early hours, but the suspects could not get to the money.
Koena urged anyone with information to contact the Qumbu police or Crime Stop 086-001-0111.
Cops recover loot as robbers flee shootout
But police managed to catch up with the fleeing suspects, and after a gunfight –with the suspects shooting at the police with a suspected AK-47 and handguns – the robbers fled, leaving the hacked ATM behind.
No injuries were reported but spent cartridges at the scene told the story of the shootout.
This latest ATM robbery at a South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) machine, happened outside Qumbu’s Boxer Superstore on Sunday at 8pm.
Mthatha police spokesman Captain Dineo Koena said it appeared the suspects used an angle grinder to cut the ATM from the wall and then removed the machine’s cash shell or safe. “When they were done, the suspects hijacked a Toyota Hilux and all of them got into it. They used the bakkie as a getaway vehicle,” said Koena.
But there was a quick response from about 15 police officers from Mthatha and Qumbu’s K-9 units, said Koena.
“A high-speed chase ensued on a gravel road leading towards Matyameni village,” she said.
“Realising they were cornered, the suspects abandoned the vehicle and opened fire on the police.”
Koena said the police managed to recover the ATM’s cash shell, which was still unopened, plus the dusty grinder and hijacked vehicle.
Police are unable to estimate how much money was in the safe.
In May last year, the Hawks in the Eastern Cape announced a breakthrough in tracking down a suspected ATM bombing syndicate, when they nabbed five suspects.
At the time, Hawks provincial spokeswoman Lieutenant Anelisa Feni said they were trying to link the five to a spate of ATM bombings throughout the country.
Within a few weeks of these ATM attacks, another ATM, belonging to Capitec, was blown up using homemade explosives in East London. The robbers fled the scene in a red Nissan bakkie with R13000 in cash.
In June last year, two ATMs were bombed in Ntlaza near Libode in the early hours, but the suspects could not get to the money.
Koena urged anyone with information to contact the Qumbu police or Crime Stop 086-001-0111.
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