At least 60 cash van heists every 3 months: ISS
The Institute for Security Studies says police have their hands full trying to combat rampant organised crime.
On Wednesday morning, a cash van was blown up in a heist in KwaMashu in northern Durban.
The attack came a mere 24 hours after another vehicle was ambushed in Folweni, south of the city.
One guard was killed in the Folweni robbery.
Police are on the hunt for the two gangs.
"Since Covid, we've seen a marked increase in the number if cash-in-transit heists that takes place across the country," says ISS security expert Lizette Lancaster Meyer.
"We are seeing about 60 cash-in transit-heists on average every three months. That means 60 takes place every 90 days in this country, which is distressing given how violent they are."
Lancaster Meyer says while there have been some successes in the past years and months, organised crime syndicates still see this as a lucrative way to make easy money.
"What is concerning is that past initiatives seem to not yield as many successes as they used too, and it shows that there's this proliferation of the number of groups that do participate."
"That they also - and we know this from research - have inside assistance from, whether is a private security companies themselves and even law enforcement such as the SAPS and that many members are on the payroll of these syndicates."
