One of the men who was allegedly involved in the robbery of eight banks appeared in the Bellville Magistrates’ Court last Monday.
The man, Sinako Magi (32), was arrested by members of the Hawks’ National Priority Violent Crimes (NPVC) unit three days before.
The Hawks requested the help of the public in identifying two men caught on security footage after the sudden spate of robberies between November 2021 and March 2022.
The men targeted Standard Banks and Absa Banks in Bellville, Gugulethu, Elsies River, Keinvlei and Kuils River.
In one case the men walked into the Standard Bank at Tyger Manor in Durban Road on 5 November where they demanded cash from the teller and fled with R48 000.
The other incident in Bellville turned out to be less financially lucrative.
One man entered the Absa Bank in Voortrekker Road.
He put down a note in front of the teller which said “this is part of a robbery” before showing the person his firearm and threatening to shoot someone if he didn’t receive any money.
He fled with R3 000.
After the last robbery in March, the Hawks put out a call for information to the public in April, distributing pictures of two apparent suspects in as many media outlets as possible.
At the time the contact person in the case was Capt Petro Coetzee who was instrumental in the case of Zephany Nurse, who was abducted as baby and reunited with her parents 17 years later.
