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Three of the suspects entered the post office carrying firearms, shortly after an amount of R600,000 was delivered as requested by the postmaster.
- A postmaster must appear in the Dordrecht Magistrates Court together with four co-defendants for an alleged robbery at the Dordrecht Post Office.
- A government official allegedly drove the getaway car used in the September 2 robbery.
- A large portion of the R720,000 that was stolen was destined for recipients of the R350 Covid-19 special relief aid grant.
An Eastern Cape postmaster will apply for bail after being arrested for allegedly plotting a robbery at the post office where he worked in which R720,000 was stolen.
The bail request is expected to be heard at the Dordrecht Magistrates Court on Tuesday and four co-defendants are also expected to appear, including a Burundian citizen and a government official, the Ministry of Security and Liaison Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe said in a statement.
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The government official is alleged to have driven the getaway car that was used in the September 2 robbery at the Dordrecht post office, Tikana-Gxothiwe said.
She said that a large portion of the money was intended for recipients of the R350 Covid-19 Social Distress Relief Special Grant.
Explaining how the robbery took place, Tikana-Gxothiwe said: “Three of the suspects entered the post office with firearms, shortly after a quantity of 600,000 rand was delivered as requested by the postmaster. They disarmed to the security guard before demanding money at gunpoint. from the workers. They left with a total amount of R720,000. “
The MEC applauded the swift police investigation that led to the arrest of the accused.
“A large sum of that money went to thousands of recipients of the R350 Covid-19 Special Distress Relief Grant, people who stood in long lines for hours waiting for their money. I want to thank the police for their swift action in this and to recover part of that money. “
A police incident report provided to News24 showed that two defendants, including the Burundian citizen, were arrested in Komani, formerly known as Queenstown, allegedly in possession of cash.
Later that day, a health department official was arrested at his home for allegedly possessing more than R250,000 in cash and a firearm.
The following day, the postmaster and one other person were arrested, bringing the total number of accused to five.
They were charged and appeared in court on September 7. They are expected to show up again Tuesday to request bail.
According to Tikana-Gxothiwe, the postmaster and the four co-defendants confessed to the crime.
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