Over the past few months, South Africa has experienced a big spike in Cash-in-Transit (CIT) heists, which is attributed to the upcoming holiday season.
Speaking on eNCA, private investigator Mike Bolhuis said that every year, the country sees a 200-300% surge in all crimes between the months of September, October, and November as criminals try to collect as much money as possible before the end of the year.
With CIT attacks, the sheer amount of cash involved and the inability of the South African Police (SAPS) to curb a large majority of the heists makes for a particularly attractive opportunity.
“The police are definitely ill-equipped, they unfortunately cannot curb crime, they cannot prevent crime. The criminals know this, and crime begets crime,” said Bolhuis.
“When a crime is successful, other criminals will have a look and get involved, and that’s why [more CIT heists] are happening and it’s not addressed by the authorities.”
Additionally, the dire economic state of the country as a result of rampant corruption in the government, load-shedding, and the Covid-19 pandemic, has driven many people who would otherwise never have considered criminal activities into this dark industry in order to make ends meet and support their families and businesses.
Bolhuis therefore believes that there is more to come, not only more CIT heists, but also more criminals.
Equipment seized from suspected CIT robber. Source: Arrive Alive
The Broken Window Theory
Unisa CIT researcher Thabang Mogopa echoed Bolhuis’ sentiments in an interview on Newzroom Afrika, stating that as long as there is a high level of criminality that remains unaccounted for, more people will become interested in doing that crime, including normal citizens who are struggling to afford the rising cost of living.
The problem is exacerbated by the fact that there are many bad actors who were once in prison for other crimes they may have committed in the past, and there they met people who were arrested for CIT heists but were living a lavish lifestyle both in and out of custody due to the proceeds they made from these heinous acts.
As such, when these individuals get bail or parole, “the first thing they want to do is to join the nearest gang of CIT heists so that they can also have the financial masculinity,” said Mogopa.
However, while there are criminal elements involved, Mogopa also said that there is a noticeable lack of enterprise risk management in certain areas of the CIT industry that are being taken advantage of.
Two out of the six large CIT organisations in the country only employ two personnel per vehicle, one driver and one security guard with a handgun, as opposed to the industry standard which is to have three vehicles on the ground comprising the main cash-transporting truck which is escorted by two unmarked cars filled with trained and well-armed guards.
This is a “security weakness” on its own that criminals are well aware of and exploit to the fullest, said Mogopa.
Furthermore, he said that the SAPS is not doing enough to ensure that CIT companies are following proper security protocols and keeping civilians out of harm’s way.
By law, the SAPS at cluster, provincial, and national levels is supposed to monitor CIT risk management as these vehicles introduce risk to the communities where they travel and work, and should they be found to have not complied with a particular standard, they should be penalised heavily by the Private Security Industry Regulation Authority, but this currently isn’t happening to the extent that it should, said Mogopa.
For example, CIT trucks tend to use public parking and move among civilians when they do pickups at shopping centres, putting everyone around them in danger.
“As much as malls have dedicated delivery points for whatever merchandise, there should also be dedicated delivery areas for transporting and offloading money,” said Mogopa.
These areas should have high levels of security and be inaccessible to the general public, and in that way, “little could ever happen” when it comes to CIT heists.
Fortunately, the police have made some headway in their attempts to curb CIT heists with initiatives like Operation Shanela, but this has been kept out of the media so as to not give the criminals too much insight into these operations.
“If you go to all the high courts in the country, you’re going to have a lot of big CIT cases being on trial, so that on its own tells people that it’s at least doable,” said Mogopa.
Additionally, foreign nationals are frequently arrested for attempting to bring high-calibre firearms such as AK-47s and explosives, which are illegal to trade in South Africa, across the border to participate in and carry out CIT heists.
Source: Institute for Security Studies
Gauteng taking action
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said the province has also launched several interventions in support of the SAPS to avoid a worst-case scenario unfolding on the roads.
The province’s anti-crime integrated plan comprises a migration to “new policing methods” that includes launching new and more secure number plates towards the end of October/start of November.
The current regime is highly compromised and can easily be duplicated, leading to many of the vehicles used in CIT heists being hijacked and fitted with counterfeit number plates, with the new identifiers aiming to make this much more difficult.
Gauteng has also given the SAPS close to 95 BMW patrol cars and over 180 drones, in addition to access to the province’s helicopters and CCTV cameras in strategic areas.
Furthermore, the Gauteng government is urging businesses and retail stores to go cashless in an effort to reduce the number of CIT vehicles on the roads, and it has installed necessary infrastructure including fibre internet across the province and it is in the process of rolling out free WiFi to townships to enable this migration.
“The police’s hands are full, and they need every resource they can have to fight this,” said Lesufi.
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