THURSDAY, 2.30PM
THOUSANDS of banking staff marched in Pretoria and on Parliament in Cape Town on Thursday in protest at the recent spate of bank robberies.
During the last 10 months of 1996, there were 506 bank robberies in SA, 193 of them in Gauteng. There have already been over 50 bank robberies in Gauteng so far this year.
Jan Scheepers, president of financial union Sasbo, handed a memorandum at Parliament to a representative of Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi, to chants of “no more cash for murdering trash”. *
Meanwhile, about 1 000 bank workers gathered at Church Square in Pretoria during the lunch hour on Thursday to demand firm action against bank robbers. Carrying posters reading “No more cash for murdering trash” and “Forget Zaire, solve crime here”, the protesters said they are sick of crime. “We will not be comforted by routine assurances and expressions of intent,” the group said in a memorandum to be presented to Gauteng safety and security MEC Jessie Duarte’s office. “We demand high-profile preventative action by the police.” All major banks in Pretoria closed between noon and 2pm on Thursday to allow the protest to take place.