Staff Writer
On 29 December 2004, Jan Julius and a colleague were transporting N$5,7 million in cash from Windhoek to the coastal towns.
Julius, who was driving the cash van, stopped to give a hitchhiker a lift just outside Windhoek.
The hitchhiker turned out to be one of the robbers who carried out the N$5,7 million heist in the Brakwater area.
Although the police arrested seven suspects in connection with the robbery, only Julius and George Jambeinge were convicted and sentenced in 2016.
Justice Shivute found out that Julius had deviated from his regular route, stopped the vehicle carrying the cash, disembarked from the vehicle, spoke privately to a hitchhiker and then allowed him through the driver’s door into the car.
Shivute further found out that Julius did not stop the hitchhiker when he attacked the accompanying security guard. Julius also stopped the vehicle where the getaway car was, and he helped the robbers load the money into the getaway vehicle.
The judge said Jambainge was found in possession of some of the money stolen from the cash van on 30 December 2005. Jambainge failed to explain the source of the funds.
Shivute found Julius guilty of robbery with aggravating circumstances of N$3 710 000as an accomplice, while Jambainge was found guilty of theft of N$1 515 000.
Four years before Julius was arrested, another security company driver Macdonald Kambonde had been arrested for participating in another cash-in-transit heist involving N$5,3 million in the Brakwater area.
Kambonde and a colleague were driving to Ondangwa to deliver cash when their vehicle was forced off the road on 17 November 2000.
In 2006, acting Judge Silungwe said that Kambonde was the robbers’ inside contact.
The judge said had it not been for Kambonde’s cooperation, the robbers would not have succeeded in carrying out the heist.
The court also found out that Kambonde was awaiting trial on another
robbery charge with aggravating circumstances when he was arrested for the heist.
Acting Judge Silungwe slapped Kambonde with a 20-year jail term, while for the other farm robbery charge, Kambonde received an 11-year term.
Although the police say that the recent spate of cash-in-heist incidents is nothing to worry about, Khomas commander Commissioner Ishmael Basson said there is always an insider.
This year alone, two cash-in-heists in Windhoek grossed N$2 693 956.90 cents.
On Friday morning, four armed robbers hit a Namibia Protection Services van at the Puma Depot in the Northern Industrial area around 08h45 and got away with N$1,333 956.90 cents.
The robbers shot one of the four security guards in the arm and grabbed three guns before they fled in grey VW Polo with registration number N213-590W.
On 4 February 2022, three robbers attacked a Southern Cross Security Company cash-in-transit vehicle at Black Chain mall in Katutura in broad daylight.
The robbers overpowered two security guards delivering money to a Nedbank branch and fled with N$1,36 million. They used a VW Polo sedan as a getaway vehicle.
Commissioner Basson told The Villager on Sunday that they strongly suspect the involvement of insiders who supply the robbers with information such as time and the amount involved.
According to Basson, the robbers who hit the Namibia Protection cash van on Friday were seen at the scene early, waiting for the van.
Although Namibia does not compare to South Africa regarding cash-in-transit heists, there were some worrying hits last year, albeit involving small amounts.
In August 2021, at Swakopmund, four robbers attacked a Southern Cross Security van collecting money for banking. The robbers grabbed the cash amounting to N$147 500 and fled toward Arandis. The robbers also stole a gun and shot one security guard in the abdomen.
Three robbers were not lucky after the police shot and injured one while fleeing and later arrested two others.
Another cash-in-transit heist happened in September 2021 at Walvis Bay when five robbers attacked a Southern Cross Security van collecting cash for banking from Pupkewitz Megabuild.
This gang grabbed N$N$ 943 616.84 and two firearms – a 38 special pistol and 32 Ruby Revolver.
Commissioner Basson said he has met with security companies’ bosses and offered them help with police security.
“A few have accepted our offer, but others did not. Some will tell us that they do not have a lot of money to carry,” Basson said.