Andre Stander

Andre Stander (1946 – 13 February 1984) was a South African criminal and policeman. One of the most infamous bank robbers in South Africa's history, Stander distinguished himself for the audacious manner with which he carried out his crimes: he sometimes carried out the crime on his lunch break, often returning to the scene as an investigating officer.

The son of a prominent figure in the South African Prison Service, Major General Frans Stander, Andre was under pressure from an early age to pursue a career in law enforcement. He enrolled at the South African Police Training College near Pretoria in 1963, graduating at the top of his class. Shortly afterwards he joined the Kempton Park Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

In 1977, Stander flew to Durban and robbed his first bank. Between 1977 and 1980 he is believed to have stolen nearly a hundred thousand rand.

After robbing nearly 30 banks, Andre Stander was arrested and sentenced to 75 years in prison on 6 May 1980. However, since many of the charges in the sentence ran concurrently, he faced an actual sentence of 17 years. Stander met two inmates named Allan Heyl and Lee McCall. On 11 August 1983, Stander and McCall, along with five other inmates, were taken from Zonderwater Maximum Security Prison's premises for a physiotherapy appointment.

Once the prisoners were left alone with the physiotherapist, Stander and McCall overpowered her and escaped. The other prisoners refused to participate and stayed behind. Stander and McCall returned to Zonderwater on 31 October 1983, in order to spring Allen Heyl from the facility where he was taking a trade test. From that day until the end of January 1984, the three began robbing banks together, under the nom de guerre of The Stander Gang (a term coined by the news media).

McCall was killed on 30 January 1984 in a Police raid on the gang's hide-out in Houghton. Heyl fled to Greece, then England, then Spain and eventually back to England, where he was caught, tried and sentenced for robbery and a related firearms charge to nine years. After serving his time in the UK, he was extradited back to South Africa where he was sentenced to a further 33 years in prison. Heyl was released on parole on 18 May 2005. While police were closing in on McCall in South Africa, Stander had been in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, trying to arrange for the sale of the gang's recently purchased sailing yacht, the Lilly Rose, that they planned to use for their final getaway once they had acquired enough money.

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