Outstanding security work leads to arrest of man with rifle

The search for the man with a stolen rifle, believed to be responsible for a series of armed robberies in the Kiepersol area, has come to a successful end.

He was arrested in the Kiepersol area on Monday evening. CSG Holdings Hi-Tech Special Services (Hi-Tech SS) made the arrest and handed over the suspect to the SAPS in Hazyview.

This specialised branch of Hi-Tech Security had been plagued with calls from farmers in the Kiepersol block since early February, complaining about a man armed with a rifle, carrying our armed robberies on farms.

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Jchaan de Beer, operational manager for Hi-Tech SS in the Kiepersol block who was present at the operation, said the suspect is linked to at least eight incidents since the beginning of February.

“When the initial incident had been reported in January, we carried out a contingency plan that had already been in place in the area,” said the COO of Hi-Tech Security, Johnny Kerswill.

“The suspect acted cunningly and evaded the plan. Hi-Tech SS then devised a new contingency plan, supported by the Kiepersol block committee, which was based on criminal tendencies.”

Kerswill said the community in Kiepersol played a vital role in the arrest. “Members of the public provided supplementary information to Hi-Tech SS, which led to new tendencies. Certain technologies were redeployed on routes that criminals are believed to use, and at possible criminal hideouts.”

Farm workers’ cooperation with Hi-Tech SS eventually led to the successful arrest. “We recognised a new possibility that the suspect was intimidating farm workers and using their quarters as a safe hideout,” Kerswill said. “In cooperation with the community members of Kiepersol, and specifically the Kiepersol block committee, we deployed bush cameras and thermal cameras at strategic locations.”

Just past midnight on Tuesday morning, the security agency received a notification on one of their cameras – the suspect was on one of the routes on his way to the staff quarters. “The suspect was caught, with the rifle, in an abandoned building. He tried to flee the scene and tried to disarm members of Hi-Tech SS, with no success. He was arrested and handed over to the police.”

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Kerswill concluded that a pattern has formed from similar incidents on other farms. “It is becoming more apparent that these criminals have a fair understanding of security operations, which makes us believe that they might have ties with security companies or anti-poaching units. In some cases, we also believe that groupings in neighbouring countries are exploiting the situation in South Africa.”