A 32 year-old man who is a former police reservist, informed Hawks that he risked his life to assists men to rob Buffalo City Metro butchery R70 000 million, and was promised R200 000.
An informer said he is sick as the men whom he did the heist with no longer taking his calls.
“I was promised to be paid in full 48 hours after he submitted an eight-page sworn statement about the alleged planning and execution of the heist on 12 July 2018. I was instrumental in obtaining video and audio-footage of the alleged plotters”, he said.
The informer said people who wanted him to join them in stealing a police van and uniform approached him. He added that people who approached him knew that he is a former police reservist and they were not aware that I had already resigned. He made claims about how the robbery was conducted; it was also about a stash of weapons and explosives. He claimed that he was offered R200 000, to carry out the robbery.
“I approached the Hawks in East London with information. I was then made to wear a recording device and hidden camera. I captured on audio and video a damning conversation about the planned heist.”
Details of arrest close to the butchery were presented to court by a Hawks investigator when he testified during the bail hearing of the suspects last August.
“They kept on telling me empty promises, they even visited my family and said they are waiting for their boss to sign off the money. It has been more than a year now. Recently I received threats of death and fearing for my life”, he said.
Hawks provincial spokesperson Captain Anelisa Ngcakani referred the Dispatch to the national office.
“Three of the six suspects were initially denied bail by an East London court last August. Three were granted bail of R2 000 each by East London magistrate court. Two accused were granted R2 000 bail by the Grahamstown high court. One of the suspects did not apply for bail and remains in custody.
Three suspected robbers were arrested just metres away from the butchery. Three others were arrested later and all face trial next month. The informer’s identity is protected as he is highly to testify in the trial. The informer told Dispatch he approached the Hawk in the early July 2018 with information that a group of would-be-thieves were planning the robbery.
