* By Tuesday morning, the names of five of the deceased have been released. Among those killed were the female owner of the house Ms Tshilidzi Maluleke, the alleged kingpin Mr Simbarashe Muchaungita (erroneously referred to as the gardener in the previous report), along with the domestic worker Ms Juliet Mugabe, gardener Mr Alex Myambi and Mr Tshepo Makhavhu from Tshifulanani. Muchaungita, Mugabe, and Myambi are all Zimbabwean.
The death toll from Friday afternoon's bloody shootout in Eltivillas, Louis Trichardt, between the police and a gang of heavily armed suspected cash-in-transit robbers has risen to 19. This comes after another body was discovered on Saturday, 2 September, in the house where the shootout took place while the police were processing the crime scene. A senior police officer was severely wounded in the shootout and is currently recovering in the hospital.
"As we were busy processing the scene, we found another body in one of the rooms in the house, bringing the total number to 19 ... We continued processing the scene and recovered three vehicles that were reportedly stolen in Gauteng, along with firearms," said Lieutenant Colonel Matimba Maluleke, provincial spokesperson for the Hawks on Monday.
The bloody confrontation followed an intelligence-driven operation by the police, planned weeks in advance. A residential premises in Eltivillas was identified as the suspects' "safe house." When the police arrived at the premises, the suspects immediately started shooting, and the police returned fire.
National Police Commissioner Gen Fanie Masemola, who visited the scene on Friday evening, indicated that the gang has been linked to a string of cash-in-transit robberies across three provinces, including Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and Gauteng. "This is the house where they were planning everything. Police members approached the house with the intention to arrest them. They shot at the police, and we retaliated. The shooting lasted 90 minutes," said Masemola.