Spike in cash heists
R41m snatched in 30 attacks
WITH the festive season approaching, cash-intransit robberies have surged, with 30 brazen attacks mostly carried out in Gauteng in the past two months.
The SA Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) yesterday said R41 million was lost in these robberies, which often involve heavily armed gangs and explosives.
Social media has been flooded with footage of these attacks over the past few weeks.
In one clip, a G4S cash-in-transit vehicle is seen running over what appears to be a suspect in a gang who attempted to accost guards after they collected cash in Krugersdorp last week.
In another clip, a police officer and a bystander were injured in a botched heist in Fordsburg, Joburg.
Sabric chief executive Kalyani Pillay yesterday said 30 cash-in-transit heists had been reported between September 1 and Monday. She added that none of the stolen R41m had been recovered and no suspects had been arrested.
Last month, the organisation also revealed that the majority of the robberies were carried out in rural areas close to Gauteng.
Releasing crime statistics last month, Police Minister Fikile Mbalula accused cash-in-transit companies of lax security measures.
He urged the banking sector and the cash-in-transit companies to invest more resources on combating these often violent crimes.
This was after an 11% increase was recorded during the 2016/17 financial year.
Pillay, however, said companies were investing “significantly” in securing the cash, vehicles and their security staff.
“These measures are constantly being reviewed and additional measures put in place where necessary,” she said. The banks and cash-in-transit companies, she said, took crimerisk mitigation very seriously.
“It must be noted that these crimes are highly organised in their nature, with the criminals being in possession of heavy-calibre guns and explosives.
“Sabric, the cash-in-transit companies and the police are working together in trying to combat these crimes. We are hoping that arrests will be made soon,” she added.
SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said each case was being dealt with at provincial level. He was unable to provide the rate at which the robberies were taking place.
But he said police were working with the private security industry, the banking sector and Sabric “to respond proactively and reactively to cash-in-transit heists”.
Naidoo said police had had some successes against the syndicates, and appealed to members of the community to assist law enforcement with information about the gangs.
“You would have seen in the recent past, during intelligence-driven operations, robberies were thwarted, shootouts ensued, and suspects were killed and arrested in the process.
“We continue to appeal to anyone with information on such criminality – preferably before it happens – to alert us so that we can react accordingly,” Naidoo said.