'Ramaphosa must protect us‚' says traumatised cash-in-transit guard

The Johannesburg CBD was brought to a standstill on Tuesday as thousands of workers gathered to call for the safety of cash-in-transit security guards.

The march‚ which was organised by the Federation of Unions of South Africa‚ was held to demand that guards be given more weapons to protect themselves against heavily armed robbers. Just this year the country experienced over 159 heists in six months.

Protesters gathered in Braamfontein and moved through the city centre to deliver a memorandum at the Gauteng Legislature.

Protest leader‚ Mdumiseni Mabaso‚ urged the South African Police Services to be more visible and called for firearm regulations to be amended to allow guards to carry higher calibre weapons.

Mabaso also urged the Governor of the Reserve Bank to ensure that limits are placed on the amounts of cash transported at one time in each vehicle.”

Andisa Mzingayi‚ a security officer at Fidelity Cash Solutions‚ told TimesLIVE: “We are calling on Ramaphosa’s government to do something about our safety‚ because we are the first suspects when there’s a robbery and that is traumatic.”

Mzingayi said the workers were not only raising awareness around their safety‚ but were also unhappy about working unarmed. Mabaso said they were demanding a minimum salary of R20‚000 per month.

The memorandum was received and signed by Sonnyboy Mmatli on behalf of safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane. Mmatli committed to meeting with various stakeholders to address the workers’ grievances within 14 working days.