SANDF ‘inside job’ heist: Suspects appear in military court

Cele said law enforcement officers suspect the theft of 19 R4 semi-automatic assault rifles at the Engineering Formation of the South African National Defence Force’s (SANDF) Lyttelton Tek Base in Pretoria, was an inside job. Cele was addressing the media in Durban on Thursday 26 December 2019 during his countrywide Safer Festive Season inspection tour.

The weapons were stolen on Monday and Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has since zeroed in on 11 people who have been taken in for questioning.

The suspects are due to appear in the military court in Thaba Tshwane on Friday for their bail hearing.

Cele said investigations were under way following the weapons’ theft and they suspect people who work at the facility were behind the crime.

“Speaking to the minister of defence about two days ago, it looks like we all have one suspicion that somebody from inside the establishment knows better,” said Cele. 

DA questions point to SANDF robbery being an inside job 

The Democratic Alliance (DA) released a statement on Tuesday 24 December 2019, stating that the SANDF let the country down after criminals simply strolled into the military base and walked out with at least 19 R4 automatic rifles. 

DA shadow minister of defence and military veterans Kobus Marais said: “It is outrageous to even consider that access could be gained into a supposedly highly protected military facility and further grind open a vault where ammunition is kept”.

The DA’s questions included: 

• Was the vault key left for the criminals?
• Was it an inside job?
• Where were the guards, and why could they not defend a strategic military installation?
• Why were guards at a military installation not able to prevent the criminals from accessing a supposedly secure facility?

SANDF weapons stolen by ‘self-serving thugs’ 

It’s been reported that all the stolen firearms were recovered in Hammanskraal on Tuesday 24 December 2019, but there has been no official confirmation of this.

The department is, however, yet to confirm the details surrounding the exact items stolen at the Lyttelton Tek Base.

In a statement, Mapisa-Nqakula condemned the act, saying it had been committed by “unpatriotic and self-serving thugs”.

The suspects were subjected to questioning on Tuesday and a high-level investigation is under way. The minister is also engaging SANDF chief General Solly Shoke.

Shoke has been ordered to rescind leave for relevant military command members and other structures to aid the authorities as they probe the weapons’ theft.

Not first time military bases have been hit

• In 2015, two soldiers at the Tempe military base, in Bloemfontein, were attacked and robbed of their rifles and ammunition by two knife-wielding attackers.
• In 2017, six R4 rifles were stolen and soldiers held up during a robbery at a military base in Harare, Khayelitsha.
• The South African Navy was also in stormy waters for arms theft in recent years. In an incident in 2016, the navy’s ammunition depot at Simon’s Town was broken into and various weapons, ammunition and hand grenades were stolen.
• In 2017, two officers from the navy’s rapid reaction unit allegedly got drunk which resulted in the theft of their R5 assault rifles.