A 40-year-old former South African National Defence Force member was arrested on Thursday for allegedly robbing a military base in Cape Town.

Soldiers at the base were robbed of their rifles when the base in Khayelitsha was stormed by a group of armed men in the early hours of Friday‚ April 14.

Newly-appointed deputy police minister Bongani Mkongi vowed to hunt the perpetrators “like wild dogs” after the brazen robbery.

He described the perpetrators as “heavily armed lunatics“.

Western Cape police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk said on Thursday that the former SANDF member was arrested after an intelligence-led operation.

“Unrelenting efforts by Provincial Organised Crime investigators assisted by various units resulted in the apprehension of a 40-year-old former SANDF member today‚“ he said in a statement.

“In an intelligence-led operation‚ police pounced on the suspect at an identified location in Harare‚ Khayelitsha early this morning. Our detectives are currently questioning the man.”