Police officers linked to cash-in-transit heists
Several civilians linking top spy police officers to cash-in-transit heists had to be whisked into witness protection after their names were released and a plot around an intricate prison escape was revealed in court, according to a report in The Times.
In a day of high drama at the Sasolburg Magistrate's Court, Magistrate Sandra Sujanani ruled that statements taken from six men linking Captain Morris 'KGB' Tshabalala and five others to a multimillion-rand cash-in-transit heist be given to their defence team. The report says police officers then had to scramble to enter three witnesses into protection programmes because of fears for their safety. Tshabalala is accused of orchestrating a February cash-in-transit heist in Sasolburg in which gunmen stole R3m from a Protea Coin cash van. Tshabalala, a covert intelligence agent involved in top-secret investigations into threats against the state and President Jacob Zuma, appeared alongside his colleague Sergeant Willby Molefe and the four other co-accused: Sipho Nkosi, Mapotswe Moloi, Lehlogonolo Tiekelele and Sipho Motsamayi. According to The Times, Tshabalala, whose top-secret security-clearance application is still pending, is being investigated for his alleged role in armed attacks on foreign businessmen and for crimes committed by convicted robber William 'King of Bling' Mbatha. Full report in The Times