49% increase in cash in transit attack

File Image: IOL

File Image: IOL

Published Sep 7, 2017

Share

JOHANNESBURG - “There has been a

significant 49% increase in Cash in Transit attacks for the first eight months

of 2017 when compared to the same period last year,” said the South African Banking

Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kalyani Pillay. 

Pillay said heists were no

longer confined to urban areas only but also occur in rural towns across South Africa. 

The provinces that experienced the highest increases in the past eight months

were Western Cape followed by North West and Gauteng.  

SABRIC was working closely

with Fidelity and other CIT companies and law enforcement officials to analyse

the crime risk information and jointly come up with strategies and risk

mitigation measures to collectively deal with this crisis.

Wahl Bartmann, Fidelity

Group CEO confirmed that just last week eight to ten armed suspects had gained

access to the Fidelity Vryheid depot making off with millions of Rands. This week he confirmed there were a further two

incidents, one in Brits and one in the Free

State, but both were fortunately

unsuccessful. 

“Unfortunately we have seen

a spike in Cash in Transit heists across the country this year and these

incidents exacerbate an already dire situation of attacks on Cash in Transit

vehicles and staff,” said Bartmann.

According to stats compiled

by SABRIC between January 1 and August 31, there have been 232 incidents across

the industry involving various modus operandi, cross-pavement attacks being the

most prevalent.

“We know that syndicates

perpetrating these kinds of crimes are highly skilled and organised. We are

constantly evolving our technology and changing our procedures to ensure we

stay one step ahead of the criminals”.

Read also: 

“Unfortunately the increase

in crime, coupled with high unemployment is impacting on the number of

robberies and heists. We have also seen a move from urban areas, where we have

clamped down quite substantially, to the more outlying areas as evidenced by

Friday’s attack,” said Bartmann.

Bartmann said consumers to

stay alert, particularly as they move towards the festive season where heists

of this nature typically spike even further. “We know wherever there is money

there is risk and this risk does escalate at certain times of the month and

typically during the latter half of the year”.

-BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE

Related Topics: