Worker foils would-be cash robbers

Zwane said the suspects were expected to appear in court soon.

The foiled robbery comes on the heels of The SA Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) issuing a warning to bank clients carrying cash. It said the two most prevalent crimes were victims being followed out of a bank branch after cash withdrawals and criminals targeting people withdrawing money at ATMs.

Sabric chief executive Kalyani Pillay said: “In both cases, criminals follow the victim to a place where it is easy to rob them. In the case of bank branches, spotters still operate and communicate a description of the victim to accomplices who wait outside the bank. Small business owners are also at risk, particularly when drawing cash to pay weekly wages.”

Pillay added that while the banks did not suffer the financial loss, they were nevertheless very concerned about the safety of their clients.

“Robbers are armed and will resort to violence if the victim tries to resist. From 2017 to June 2018 Sabric recorded eight fatalities and 26 injuries because of cash robberies.”

She said incidents from 2016 to 2017 increased by 4%, but from January to June 2018 there had been a 33% decrease when compared with the same period in 2017, with 478 and 709 incidents respectively.

“Bank client cash losses for 2018 from January to June amounted to just over R21 million, which was a decrease of 5% from the same period in 2017.”

She urged bank clients to find safer ways of transacting such as internet transfers or mobile banking, instead of carrying cash.