Cape Town - The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) is investigating a death as a result of police action, after officers intercepted a cash-in-transit robbery in Parow.
Video footage of a cash-in-transit (CIT) attack went viral on Thursday, showing police officers intercepting an attack on Fidelity Services Group personnel.
According Fidelity Services Group CEO, Wahl Bartmann, two armed suspects confronted their CIT personnel at around 10am at Parow Centre when they had arrived to do a cash replenishment at a Capitec ATM inside the mall.
"The suspects were armed with 9mm pistols. They confronted our staff members after they had unlocked the ATM cubicle, and took their service weapons from them. An undisclosed sum of cash was taken by the suspects before they fled the scene. No shots were fired during this incident and no injuries were reported,” said Bartmann said.
However, according to Ipid, the SAPS National Intervention Unit allegedly received information that there was going to be robbery and responded.
"When the SAPS members arrived at the shopping center they saw the cash in transit vehicle and a suspicious white Toyota Corrola parked near the cash van.
"The SAPS members approached the vehicle and the driver of the Toyota drove off ignoring the police official’s call to stop, as alleged, shots were fired and the driver of the vehicle was fatally shot," said Ipid spokesperson Ndileka Cola.
Cola said that the investigation into this incident continues.
In the viral footage of the incident, two people can be heard giving a break down of the gunshots that that they heard:
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/CITRobbery?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CITRobberySanlam Centre, Parow, Cape Town. ⚠️ Language pic.twitter.com/ZUmVWuJZ8g
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee)
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/CITRobbery?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CITRobberySanlam Centre, Parow, Cape Town. ⚠️ Language (video as received). pic.twitter.com/A2thl5Yeqr
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee)
While a G4S vehicle can also be seen in the video, according to a spokesperson for G4S, it "arrived on the scene afterwards but was not involved in the event".