Cash-heist figures sky-rocket

2003-12-02 21:57

Jeanne-Marie Versluis

Bloemfontein - Shocking statistics, submitted in court here on Tuesday, showed a total of 40 people have died so far this year in cash-in-transit heists, and 176 been injured.

By the end of December, it is estimated more than R130.74m will have been stolen this year.

The State submitted these statistics before magistrate H Landman passed sentence in a case of 15 men convicted of conspiring to commit armed robbery.

The State has asked that they each get long prison sentences.

Commenting on the statistics compiled by the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric), Landman said: "It is shocking to see how many of these robberies have taken place across the country."

According to Sabric's report, 416 cash-in-transit robberies have taken place between January and November this year. This is 3% more than last year.

The number of people killed in such heists has increased tremendously.

In 2001, only five people died in this sort of robbery. In 2002, three people were killed, and this year 40 have died.

The number of wounded has also risen sharply. Nine were injured in 2001 and 10 in 2002. This year, however, 176 people have been injured.

- Volksblad