FRIDAY, 6.00PM
The statistics released by the Council of South African Banks today revealed that robbers have gotten away with more than R30-million in 164 bank robberies so far this year, while R105,3 million was robbed in 1996. COSAB head Bob Tucker said police indicated the robberies are the work of syndicates, made up of about 100 robbers.
Tucker said the total loss to bank robbers has increased by 38 percent since 1995. Gauteng banks were most often robbed (100), with Kwa-Zulu Natal (27), North West Province (9) and Western Cape (8) making up the top five most robbed provinces.
Tucker will be meeting Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi next Thursday to discuss means of progress and controlling safety at banks. ”Amongst the issues which we will investigate is how the reward system could be significantly improved, and how the newly established units could be held accountable for rapid progress and monitored. It is also imperative that those teams are dedicated to this task alone — which I have been assured they will be,” he said.
He added the long-term solution to the problem is a move away from using hard cash. ”All of us should try to move towards the use of electronic banking services instead of cash. That method is cheaper, easier and much safer,” he said.