Durban - In yet another petrol station robbery, thieves armed with explosives, AK-47 assault rifles and handguns blew up two drop safes in eManzimtoti – flagging to police that they now have a new problem on their hands.
It is the second such attack on a service station in eManzimtoti in a week and, according to private security officers, at least 10 have occurred in the area in the past six months.
There have also been drop safe bombings at other garages and ATM machines across the province. Similar incidents have been reported in the Western Cape and Gauteng.
Most of the attacks have occurred after midnight when service stations are quiet.
Dr Johan Burger, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, said the increase in drop safes being targeted was a shift in crime.
He said that from the late ’90s to about 2005 cash-in-transit vehicles and banks were prime targets for organised gangs.
“But then the police and the banking sector got together and started sharing intelligence to such an extent that they could, with pin-point accuracy, predict when and where attacks would happen. This resulted in the police ambushing many of these gangs and killing or arresting them.
“From then on we have seen a huge reduction in the number of cash-in-transit robberies,” he said.
Burger said that gangs then shifted to targeting stand-alone ATMs by blowing them up with dynamite.
“The banks then began securing these ATMs by placing dyes that stained the notes in the machines and that slowed down the attacks. The attacks on drop safes are a result of a further shift way from blowing up ATMs,” he said.
Police would not say whether the attacks on the South Coast were linked and the work of one or several gangs operating independently.
The latest attack was early on Wednesday when eight men stormed a Caltex garage near the Southgate Industrial Park and ordered the staff to lie on the ground.
“It was around 2am when they came in,” service station manager, Mark Hardman, said yesterday.
“While the staff were on the ground they wired the two drop safes and blew them up. They blew them completely apart,” he said.
The impact of the blast ripped through the service station’s shop, damaging goods and furniture.
Hardman said petrol station owners, managers and employees were concerned about the growing number of attacks on their businesses.
“Just last week a petrol station not far from here was also hit. It is a concern,” he said.
Hardman said that while the police were on the scene within five minutes they were at their wits’ end as to how much further they could beef up security.
“We are contracted to two armed security companies and have a guard in the shop as well. We are obviously going to have to review our security to see what we can do. We are not allowed armed guards on site but I don’t believe that armed guards are a solution to these robberies,” he said.
Police spokesman, Major Thulani Zwane said after blowing up the safe the men left in an awaiting vehicle.
“No shots were fired and no injuries reported. A case of business robbery was opened at eManzimtoti SAPS but no arrests have been made,” Zwane said.
Blue Security operations manager, Brian Jackson, said the gang was in a silver Volvo S40 and a white Nissan Hardbody.
He said a vehicle fitting the description of the Volvo had also been identified during armed robberies of bank customers in Pinetown and eManzimtoti at the weekend.
“We advise business owners to be vigilant and to brief their staff regarding security risks and to avoid carrying or keeping large sums of cash on the premises. Rather use electronic banking facilities to pay wages and suppliers to reduce the risk of becoming a target,” he said.
“Criminals usually stake out their victims before hitting, so it is important to be proactive and to report any suspicious vehicles or individuals seen loitering around your premises at odd hours,” he said
Leon Jooné, operations manager at the Community Crime Prevention Organisation (CCPO), which works with private security companies, said the gang was “armed to the teeth”.
“No one has been hurt yet but I can guarantee they will have no qualms about violence. They are armed with AKs and handguns and if any of our guys run into them they will just shoot. We do not have the firepower to take them. I mean these guys have explosives. It shows you the type of people we are dealing with,” Jooné said.
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