Manhunt for five involved in northern KZN cash heist

24 November 2020 - 15:01 By orrin singh
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G4S security personnel were robbed by five men at a service station in Mtunzini on Tuesday.
G4S security personnel were robbed by five men at a service station in Mtunzini on Tuesday.
Image: G4S

Police in northern KwaZulu-Natal are hunting for five men who were involved in a cash-in-transit (CIT) heist in Mtunzini shortly after midday on Tuesday.

G4S confirmed to TimesLIVE that one of its CIT teams was the victim of a “cross-pavement” incident at a service station. Cross-pavement robberies are incidents where money is intercepted as it is carried to or loaded on to a stationary armoured vehicle, or as it is offloaded from a stationary armoured vehicle.

No guards were harmed in the attack, and no shots were fired.

G4S SA MD Renso Smit said, “We are investigating and are making all evidence available to the police, with whom we continue to work closely.”

Sources close to the investigation said five men approached the G4S vehicle, one wielding an AK47 rifle, before robbing security guards and making off in a white Isuzu bakkie with an undisclosed amount of cash.

“The vehicle was found abandoned in the Dlangezwa Reserve a short while later. According to witnesses, the perpetrators fled in a black VW Polo driven by a woman,” said the source.

Police spokesperson Col Brenda Muridili said: “One of the security guards went inside to collect cash while the others remained behind. A group of armed suspects showed up and held the two security guards. At gunpoint, they were robbed of their service pistols.

“When the security guard carrying cash was about to reach the cash-in-transit vehicle, he was robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash.”

CIT crime on the rise

Smit said while G4S has seen a marked decrease in CIT attacks on its vehicles of late, there was increasing concern about the overall level of CIT crime in SA.

He said G4S SA had increased tactical support teams by more than 50% and had boosted their national helicopter support, surveillance and response capability this year.

“Our priority is to keep our people safe. G4S is constantly investing in operational systems, technology and training, which includes deploying in-vehicle technologies. We are constantly shifting our delivery schedules and routes to ensure we are always a step ahead of the criminals.” 

TimesLIVE


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