Times Of Swaziland: E500 000 STOLEN AT OK FOODS

E500 000 STOLEN AT OK FOODS
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BY JABULISA DLAMINI on 04/10/2017 09:31:00


MATSAPHA –  Businessman Lincoln Motsa has suffered a setback of over half a
million in just one night.
This, after robbers stole the money that was locked at OK Foods around Kwaluseni
on Monday morning. The thieves are said to have cut two holes through the
corrugated iron sheets before sliding inside the shop and stealing over E500
000, which had been kept in a safe. Even though there are security guards at the
premises, it is said they did not hear anything until after the robbery had been
committed and the suspects were leaving. Police preliminary investigations
suggest that there were four or more robbers who entered the store and made away
with the two-day’s takings. The store is one of the main ones around
Kwaluseni, in Matsapha and is owned by well-known businessman, Lincoln Motsa of
Linac Investments. According to OK Foods General Manager Robert Khumalo, the
robbers first cut open corrugated iron sheets and jumped into the store through
cupboards with items which had been placed in that particular room.
The robbers are said to have headed straight to the cash office where the
stores’ biggest safe was and forced open the door using a grinder.
The safe was dragged from the cash office to the computer room, before its lid
was cut open using the same grinder. “The unknown people had planned the whole
incident, the grinder was plugged inside the store and the VCR for surveillance
recordings broken, to avoid footages. We suspect an inside job, however, the
police are still conducting investigations. Who would have had an idea where all
the money inside the safe had been kept? Why and how were the alarms, which are
always functional, disconnected? The VCR for surveillance recordings was also
destroyed, it is all a mystery,” Khumalo said. After cutting the safe, the
robbers slid their hands through the opening and took out all the cash, leaving
behind coins. After they had stuffed all the cash inside a bag they had been
carrying, the men, suspected to be small built in structure as suggested by the
opening the corrugated iron sheets, escaped through the same holes.
On their way out of the store, the robbers also grabbed a box full of different
brands of cigarettes and made off with it.
The boxes of Dunhill, Courtleigh and Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes are valued at
E14 100. This was confirmed by the store manager. The security guards are said
to have noticed after seeing the suspects jumping off the building and hearing
footsteps that something was amiss. One of the guards is said to have revealed
that one of the thugs was seen carrying a bag before escaping into the dark.
While jumping off the rooftop, the three security guards noticed the men and
called the stores’ operations manager to alert him about the robbery incident.
Information gathered is that a team of police officers from the Serious Crimes
Unit (LUKHOZI) spent time at the store on Monday, interviewing employees from
the store, mostly managers from the cash office and the security guards who were
on duty on the day.  It is suspected that the information the robbers had could
have been allegedly leaked out by people who know the store quite well.