Hawks investigate Limpopo CIT kingpin after 19 suspects die in shoot out

With 19 suspects killed in a shoot-out with the Hawks, there is no-one to interrogate in the investigation into the heavily armed gang found in a house in Limpopo last week.

Police raided a luxury home in Makhado on Friday, where they were met with a hail of bullets from a gang of alleged cash-in-transit robbers.

A shoot-out ensued, and 18 of the suspects were fatally shot. A 19th body was discovered once the Hawks processed the scene. Two of the dead suspects were women.

Hawks head Lt-Gen Godfrey Lebeya said the owner of the villa was killed in the gunfire.

“As to who the kingpin is, those who were found in the house unfortunately did not survive, which means we will be investigating on our own without asking them questions.”

Senior police officer Lt-Col Joe Coetzer was injured during the shoot-out when he was shot in the leg. He was airlifted to hospital for medical care, but his leg could not be saved and was amputated.

Lebeya was speaking at a briefing in Pretoria on Monday where he outlined the milestones achieved by the Hawks in the first quarter of the 2023/24 financial year.

In that period, 27 arrests were made for cash-in-transit heists. 23 CIT-related offences were reported, including the Sebokeng gun battle where nine suspects were shot dead and three were injured.

One of the Hawks’ successes was the arrest of three Fidelity security officials alleged to be involved in a CIT heist in the Free State on May 9.

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