There has been a dramatic increase in cash-in-transit robberies in and around Pretoria since the start of the year, police said on Wednesday.
A total of six cash-in-transit robberies have been reported in the last five months. The latest took place in Silverton on Tuesday evening.
ALSO READ: NEWSFLASH: Cash-in-transit robbery in Silverton
Police spokesperson Captain Daniel Mavimbela said 14 men fired shots and forced the cash-in-transit vehicle off the road before using explosives to blow it open.
“Information suggests that the driver of the cash-in-transit vehicle was assaulted during the attack and is being treated at a local hospital,” he said.
“It is still unclear if cash was stolen.”
Anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee said on Wednesday the police and security companies needed to come up with a new strategy to overcome these robberies.
“Organised gangs seem to be at work,” Abramjee said.
“[The robbers] are daring and dangerous. It is time for all within the security industry to act. These cash vans are now being seen as easy targets.”
Abramjee said he believed many security companies were not doing enough to secure their cash and protect their guards.
Gauteng police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters earlier urged the cash companies to beef up their security.
“It cannot be the sole responsibility of the police to ensure that all cash-in-transit vehicles are safe on the road,” Peters said.
Among the heists reported in Pretoria this year, a security guard was injured when a gang crashed into a cash truck in Soshanguve.
In another, robbers blew up a cash truck on the N14 near Eeufees Road and stole an undisclosed amount of cash.
In the second week of January, robbers forced a cash truck to a stop in Hammanskraal and robbed the guards of their firearms and cash.
In a daring heist on the N4 highway outside Pretoria in February, robbers made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.
ALSO READ: NEWSFLASH: Daring cash heist on north highway
Last month, two men robbed a cash truck in Atteridgeville.
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