Robbers mount brazen heists on armored vehicles
JOHANNESBURG — Criminal syndicates in South Africa have increased attacks on security vans transporting large amounts of cash, brazenly opening fire and blowing up vehicles in chaotic scenes that send civilians rushing for cover.
Some bystanders manage to film the attacks and post the footage on social media, magnifying concerns in a country that struggles with a high rate of violent crime.
Authorities are boosting intelligence work and other efforts to tackle the heavily armed gangs, whose members appear to have specific roles: shooter, lookout, driver.
“It’s almost like everyone’s got a skill of his own,” said Yusuf Abramjee, a South African anti-crime activist. “These people strike with military precision.”
They might be getting help from rogue police officers, and local media have reported the possible use of stolen military weapons in some heists.
There have been 75 attacks on vehicles carrying cash this year, compared with 31 in the same period in 2017, said Kalyani Pillay, CEO of the South African Banking Risk Information Centre. Just under 40 percent of the attacks were thwarted. Two civilians, one police officer, five guards and nine suspects were killed in this year’s robberies and another 93 people were injured, Pillay said.
Thieves carrying out such heists have stolen 63 percent more money this year than in the same period in 2017, according to Pillay. She declined to say how much, though the amount is estimated to be at least several million dollars.
Unions representing workers involved in the transport of cash held protests in major cities in June for more protection on the job. “Stop bombing our cash vans,” read a sign at a march in Cape Town.
Heist methods have varied over the years. In 1997, thieves in Bronkhorstspruit dragged a spike chain across a highway to block a security van and killed two guards. The hit was reminiscent of a scene in the 1995 movie “Heat” in which a gang uses a spike strip to thwart police pursuit after robbing an armored car.
Today, heist teams in South Africa can consist of 10 to 15 people who blow open armorplated security vehicles with commercial explosives possibly taken from the mining industry.
Gangs involved in such heists include some people from neighboring countries including Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. About 200 people are believed to be “spearheading” the attacks in South Africa, one security company said.