Over the past six weeks the cash-in-transit industry has experienced a spike in the number of heists cross the country. On Tuesday 4 August 2020, Fidelity Services Group recorded three heists in the space of just over 30 minutes.
The first incident happened in Flagstaff, Eastern Cape at approximately 17:32; the second incident in Kensington, Johannesburg at approximately 17:47 and the third happened just after 18:00 on the R42 in Delmas, Mpumalanga area.
Wahl Bartmann, CEO of Fidelity Services Group, says, “Fortunately the heavily armed suspects were not able to get away with any money in each of the three separate ambush attacks. “Even though our crews were ambushed by heavily armed perpetrators in each of the incidents, no cash was lost and few injuries sustained, with the exception of the Delmas incident where the driver of our van sustained injury and a member of our Tactical Support Unit was fatally injured. We extend our sincerest condolences to his family.”
In the Kensington attack the perpetrators were not able to access the van and Fidelity air support was on site within 5 minutes. In the Eastern Cape the perpetrators were able to access the van but only succeeded in destroying all the cash. Fortunately no injuries were sustained in the explosion.
“No arrests have been made yet. We know that syndicates perpetrating these kinds of crimes are highly skilled and organised. We are constantly evolving our technology and changing our procedures to ensure we stay one step ahead of the criminals and have an excellent working relationship with SAPS. Our Specialised Intervention Teams are working closely with the SAPS to follow up on all leads,” says Bartmann.
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