Two suspects were shot dead while another had to be rushed to hospital following a shootout with police at the old South African Social Security Services Agency (SASSA) in Chatsworth on Sunday, 7 July.
It was alleged that SAPS officials received a tip-off about suspects in the process of stealing cables and other items from the currently abandoned government building. Upon arrival, the suspects allegedly pointed their firearms at police and thereafter, a shootout occurred. Police officers were unharmed.
Media spokesperson for Metropolitan Police, Colonel Boysie Zungu, confirmed the incident. He said: “We always encourage our officers to defend themselves when situations arise. We gave them firearms to protect their lives as well as the community at large. We will continue with operations to claim municipal properties back. We commend the entire team for a job well done.”
Senior marketing and communications manager at SASSA, Sandy Godlwana, said: “In relation to the incident at the abandoned office which SASSA no longer uses, we confirm that we are indeed aware of the incident and we would like to confirm as well that this is the former office used by SASSA.
“We are no longer making use of that premises and are temporarily making use of another office space. With the stealing of cables from the former premises, this could potentially affect us since these cables are linked to operating systems and interfere with the process of applications of social grants.
“We are also aware that criminals have been getting into that abandoned office and taking whatever items they can get their hands on including the cables and that too, almost seven times over the last month. This is extremely concerning as this affects our services. However, nothing stops us from taking manual applications and our online application services are still operational at www.sassa.gov.za.”
