Three weeks later – no arrests made
As many as 15 people are believed to have been involved.
MBOMBELA – Three weeks since millions of rands are believed to have been stolen from an armoured security vehicle near Hazyview on August 30, no arrests have been made by police. As many as 15 people are believed to have been involved.
According to the province’s crime statistics released on September 2, CIT robberies in Mpumalanga increased by 28 per cent in the year ending
March 31. KwaZulu-Natal’s increased by 16 per cent, the Western Cape by 60 per cent, the Eastern Cape by 90 per cent and Limpopo’s by 44 per cent. CIT robberies in Gauteng and the Free State had decreased.
According to the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) Mpumalanga’s increase in cash-in-transit (CIT) heists can be ascribed to crime displacement. It is the reduction of crime in one area simultaneously observed with an increase of the same crime elsewhere. Displacement is said to occur if crime reductions in the target area lead to crime increases elsewhere.
According to Sabric CEO,
Ms Kalyani Pillay, crime displacements with reference to cash-in-transit (CIT) robberies are becoming more prevalent in Limpopo and Mpumalanga, while stricter security measures and anti-CIT operations have lead to a decrease in its prevalence in Gauteng and the Free State.
When asked why CIT robbers would flock to Mpumalanga, she explained that various factors contributed thereto. “This includes the landscape, traffic density and response time,” she said.
Various areas in the province have been targeted, inlcuding KaBokweni, Mbombela and KaNyamazane.
Pillay also discussed the nature of CIT robberies and explained that there are two different kinds of CIT operations, “Heists refer to operations where the targets are the armoured vehicle transporting the cash. Cross-pavement robberies describe operations where the person carrying the cash is targeted.” Pillay said that CIT robbers usually plan extensively. “They are sophisticated in the way in which they perpetrate their crimes,” she said. According to Pillay, they usually work in large groups and each group member is skilled in a particular area. “For CIT robbers the time spent on the crime scene is important to ensure a safe getaway,” she said and added that robberies vary from two minutes to half an hour in duration, depending on whether a heist or cross-pavement attack is being executed.
Pillay advised that local institutions can avoid falling prey to CIT operations by adhering to standard operation procedures. “Being aware of their surroundings and circumstances are also important. Suspicious activities must be reported and personnel trained,” she added. She concluded that optimal vehicle security must be kept during the vetting and re-vetting of employees.
