Durban - A war room has been set up as KwaZulu-Natal braces for an expected spike in cash-in-transit heists and business robberies over the festive season.
Naeem Rahiman, the acting branch manager of Business Against Crime, said they had put malls and businesses on “high alert”, while police advised businesses to tighten security.
Rahiman said private security officers were already on high alert and the police had set up a war room, an operational centre where dedicated officers would co-ordinate investigations and policing with a focus on priority crimes.
Rahiman said in the run up to the season, criminals often mounted attacks on businesses and cash-in-transit operations in the north and south of the province, but the outlying parts of the metropolitan areas were also targeted.
“This time of the year it’s all about cash and not about cigarettes,” he said.
He said robbers had been well armed in recent incidents, citing the heist in Ixopo early on Tuesday in which a police officer was killed while responding to an ATM bombing.
Constable Ntombifikile “Bedle” Ndlovu, 36, died when the police bakkie she was travelling in was hit by a hail of bullets.
The robbers were well armed with AK-47 assault rifles and pistols.
Security expert Dr Johan Burger, of the Institute for Security Studies, confirmed that business robberies usually increased towards the festive season and police were responding with some success.
“Last year there was increased police visibility at shopping malls, centres and other high-risk areas because the police had also roped in officers who were still in training colleges to help deter these criminal elements. It did have an impact,” said Burger.
According to Burger, the number of attacks on shopping malls and businesses had dropped to 636 in the 2015/2016 financial year compared with 807 attacks in 2014/2015.
“This is the lowest we have had since the 2011/2012 financial year when we had only 274 attacks on shopping malls and centres.
“In 2012/2013 the attacks rose to 438 and then 772 in 2013/2014,” Burger said.
Although there had been a decrease in attacks in 2015/2016, the number, at 636, remained large, said Burger.
“When the acting National Police Commissioner General Khomosto Phahlane increased police visibility last year, and with the police working in collaboration with mall and centre management, it worked as robbers were deterred,” Burger said.
Burger said he hoped the the police’s festive season operational plan – expected soon – would include plenty of police on the ground to discourage robbers.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane said police had increased their visibility and patrols in the province.
“The Hawks were tasked to investigate these (heist) cases and trace those involved.
“We also appeal to the business people to strengthen their security systems as we are approaching festive season,” said Zwane.
Fanie Pretorious, logistics executive at cash-in-transit security company SBV, said they had honed their tactical and operational strategies with the festive season in mind and had also invested in technology to improve the safety of their guards and the public.
“The prevention of fatalities of cash-in-transit employees and civilians remains a top priority for SBV,” said Pretorious. “Training is critical and SBV employees have been retrained to refresh their skills on the use of company equipment to defend themselves and to protect assets.”
Pretorious said they were constantly improving their shopping mall cash recycling system and they aimed to ensure malls around the country were gun-free zones that were a “safe environment for shoppers and retailers”.
“This system is designed to eliminate the unprotected movement of cash within a shopping mall and to provide tenants with a banking system that operates according to shopping mall timeliness,” said Pretorious.
Rahiman urged businesses not to pay employees in cash and to avoid taking taking cash to the bank.
They should seek ways to minimise opportunities for criminals to attack.
He said people should try to head towards a cashless society.
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Past robberies
Some of the heists that occurred during the year.
* Last week in Kokstad and KwaDukuza, gangs attacked guards. Police said guards were attacked near a Boxer Superstore. They held up Fidelity Guards near an ATM close to the store. One of the guards was shot in the hand. In Kokstad, weapons and boxes were taken from the guards. One guard was injured although the extent of his injuries had not been ascertained.
* In August, a gunman was shot dead in a cash-in-transit heist in Ezinqoleni on the South Coast. This came after robbers forced an armoured car off the road. The thieves forced open the safes only to find there was no money in the vehicle.
* In May, a heist happened at a Verulam petrol station. A gang in a Chevrolet managed to take money and a gun from the security guard who had come to collect cash at the station. This happened while petrol attendants looked on. The gunman coolly walked away from the scene and got into a car and drove away.
* In March, six gunmen made off with R76 000 in a cash-in-transit heist at Chris Hani Road. The Daily News reported that a G4S security van was collecting cash from a garage when a Toyota RunX and white VW Polo arrived with six men carrying rifles and hand guns and disarmed a security guard. They took three cash boxes, believed to contain R76 000.
The robbers sped off and a shoot-out with one of the guards ensued near the garage.
A window of the cash van was shattered and bullet holes pockmarked the van on the passenger side. Bystanders and workers at nearby businesses took cover when they heard the shots.