LOOTED CASH

…Nearly US$7.9 million in hard cash looted from ATMs and banks during SA unrest

JOHANNESBURG - Almost US$7.9 million in hard cash was looted from ATMs and banks during the bout of civil unrest which swept across parts of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal in mid-July. This amount is much higher than initial estimates and doesn’t include the cost of repairs.

At least 1, 227 ATMs and 310 bank branches were vandalised or destroyed between July 9 and 17, during a period of violent looting which left hundreds of shops in ruins and more than 300 people dead.

This is according to the latest count by the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric), which has detailed the dire consequences of the “unprecedented destruction” of banking infrastructure.

“Not all notes are dyestained and millions in unsoiled notes will be injected back into the economy,” said Sabric CEO Nischal Mewalall. “This money is the proceeds of crime and there is now a war chest available to fund more organised crime, to corrupt more officials and to promote lawlessness.”

Sabric estimates that R119, 400, 243 in physical cash was looted from ATMs and inbranch safes. The Banking Association South Africa (Basa) initially estimated these cash losses to be around US$1.3 million. Of the 1, 227 ATMs damaged during the unrest, 256 were broken into by force and 36 were physically stolen from their sites. At least 82 in-branch safes were also breached, according to Sabric.

Losses incurred by the banking sector extend far beyond the theft of physical cash. It costs approximately US$25.400 Thousand to replace an ATM – which excludes installation costs – according to Basa. Replacing the 36 ATMs which were stolen from their sites will cost at least US$910 Thousand. – BUSINESS INSIDER SA.