Cash-in-transit robberies are at an all-time high. The Cash-In-Transit Association of SA has revealed that cash van robberies increased by 24% since the start of the year compared with the same period in 2022.
A SPATE OF ROBBERIES
Head of the Cash in Transit Association, Grant Clark said the records are for the first three months of 2023 in comparison to the same period in 2022. He said for each month in 2023, an increase of 37% has been recorded as compared with 2022. Just before Easter, the police foiled two CIT heists where ten alleged robbers were killed in fire exchange with the police. In Sebokeng, 10 suspects were cornered in the early hours of the morning allegedly on their way to rob a cash van. Police Minister Bheki Cele said at the time that three of the vehicles were found idling when the would-be-robbers were caught. He said they have linked the remaining suspects to all the recent CITs in Gauteng. In another incident on Easter Sunday, two cash-in-transit suspects were shot and killed during a shootout with police in Centurion, Pretoria after a foiled cash van robbery.
THREE PROVINCES A CONCERN
Clark said at the top of the list is Gauteng, followed by the Eastern Cape with 22% and then KZN with 12%. He said their association monitors CITs daily and the lives of crew members in cash vans were in constant danger. "Cash-in-transit robbery incidents, when perpetrators attack the crew when conducting services at clients, are on the increase. The group size of these perpetrators is becoming bigger. They do not hesitate to use violence during these cross-pavement attacks and the risk of injuring innocent bystanders is of concern," Clark said. He said the association is deeply concerned about the increase in CIT robberies. ?This is the reason for our continuous collaboration with different role-players, including the SAPS, to bring this crime down. The loss of life, injuries and financial implications are some of the consequences suffered not only by the CIT industry but also South Africa as a country," concluded Clark.
