Durban – A 62-year-old man died in hospital and three others were wounded when robbers held up a stockvel club in Umbumbulu, south of Durban.
Police are warning members of the public not to carry and keep large amounts of cash in their homes.
This warning follows an incident which occurred on Tuesday at the Thenjane Reserve in Umbumbulu.
Mbele said a group of stockvel members were at a house to divide stockvel money.
"Whilst they were busy counting the money, four armed suspects entered. They fired shots at the stockvel members. The bullets hit four people. The suspects fled the scene with a large sum of cash. The injured victims were taken to hospital for medical attention. A 62-year-old man later died in hospital,"Mbele said.
Charges of robbery and murder were opened for investigation at Umbumbulu SAPS.
Police said people should consider options that are lower risk for example carry as little cash as possible and consider making use of cellphone banking and internet transfers to pay accounts or ATMs to do the banking.
Colonel Thembeka Mbele, a KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson, advised that bank accounts must be opened and transfers be done at a bank to avoid robberies
Tips to avoid being a victim of cash robberies
·Alternate the days and times on which you deposit cash
·Refrain from making cash deposits
·Never make your bank visits public, even to people close to you
·Do not openly display the money you are depositing while you are standing in the bank queue
·Avoid carrying money bags, briefcases or openly displaying your deposit receipt book
·It’s advisable to identify another branch nearby that you can visit to ensure that your banking pattern is not easily recognizable or detected
·If the amount of cash you are regularly depositing is increasing as your business grows, consider using the services of a cash management company
·Refrain from giving wages to your contract or casual labourers in full view of the public rather make use of wage accounts that can be provided by your bank
· Refrain from driving to the bank in your company branded vehicle on a typical ‘pay day’
·Consider arranging for electronic transfers of wages to your contract or casual labourers’ personal bank accounts.
·Transfer stockvel money into members accounts from the bank or through internet banking