Seven Robbers Shot Dead In South Africa

Johannesburg — An elite South African police unit shot seven men dead when attempted to rob a cash depot in western Johannesburg Saturday evening.

Nine others were injured during the attempted robbery and are currently under police guard in a hospital. Police confiscated 11 vehicles and four firearms.

Paul Ramaloko, captain of the South African Police Service, said, “We believe we got the kingpin down. We are convinced that we got all the robbers – dead or arrested.”

The cash depot belonged to Protea Coin, a security company which runs a cash-in-transit business.

South Africa has one of the highest murder rates in the world outside of a war zone, and crime is a chronic problem in the country.

About 40 percent of the South African population is jobless, and that number is expected to rise substantially.

Correctional Services Minister Sibusiso Ndebele called for continued dialogue toward finding a solution to the high rate of incarceration and breaking the cycle of crime in the country Tuesday.

Ndebele said:

“As the Department of Correctional Services, we will continue to interact with stakeholders in order to implement solutions to South Africa’s high rate of incarceration and breaking the cycle of crime. By mid-2013, we must have a clear Roadmap so that we can all address the key corrections challenges in order to ensure a better country.”

At the colloquium, examples were given of successful interventions in other countries. For example, Malawi implemented a system for the deployment of paralegals. The system contributed to a reduction of the remand population from 45 percent of the overall population to about 17 percent.