Cape Town – Police in the Western Cape have arrested five suspects in connection with the robbery of a shopping mall in Gugulethu on New Year's Eve.
Armed robbers broke into the Gugulethu Square Mall and overpowered the security guards on duty before ransacking five stores and making off with electronic equipment, cellphones, clothing and liquor.
On Wednesday, police spokesperson, Captain FC van Wyk, said that investigations into the circumstances surrounding the robbery had led to the arrest of five suspects from Zwelitsha in Nyanga earlier on Wednesday. He said a total of six houses were searched after police reacted to a tip-off and conducted a search operation for the suspects.
"During the searches at one of the identified houses, police recovered a Nissan NP200 which was possibly used during the robbery and was reported hijacked in Browns Farm last month," Van Wyk said.
"At two addresses, members recovered eight cellular telephones with the shop tags and stickers, two boxes of wine with glasses still in boxes and small bags of undisclosed amount of coins."
Four men, aged between 16 and 31, and a 52-year-old woman, are expected to appear in the Athlone Magistrate's Court soon on charges of armed robbery and hijacking.
The police's Nyanga Cluster Management thanked the public for assisting with information that led to the arrest of the perpetrators. On New Year's Eve, armed suspects had gained entry through the roof of the shopping mall's security control room and threatened the security guards inside, before tying them up and assaulting them.
"They stole cellphones, clothing, televisions, liquor and even grinded through a safe in one of the cellular telephone stores," police said shortly after the robbery.