Trade union Solidarity on Wednesday called for military style training for cash-in-transit security guards in response to the rising number of heists.
”We’re not saying that they don’t receive good training, but we believe that they don’t receive the type of training required to handle these situations,” union spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans said. This was especially so given the fact that most heists appeared to be executed in a military like fashion.
His remarks follow Wednesday’s appearance in the Mokopane Magistrate’s Court in Limpopo of six men accused of killing four security guards after a cash heist. They allegedly shot dead one of the guards and burnt the other three to death after ramming their van off the road on September 29. Their case was postponed to November 8.
”Although the South African Police Service [SAPS] is of the opinion that it has the expertise and infrastructure to assist security companies with guard training, private sector experts have told Solidarity in no uncertain terms that the SAPS is incapable of providing such training,” said Kleynhans.
Police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Vish Naidoo would not comment on whether or not cash-in-transit guards were receiving training from police.
Asked whether he thought the training cash-in-transit guards were receiving from their employers was adequate, he said: ”That we would have to do a study on.”
He said in the last two months police had arrested 148 suspects in connection with cash heists, a large number of those before the crime was committed.
”More often that not [these arrests] are intelligence-driven and are a clear indication of the capacity we have.”
Spokesperson for Fidelity guards Wendy van Acht said the company had its own private training colleagues. She could not immediately say who these were staffed by.
Coin Security referred queries to its managing director MC du Toit, who could not be reached for comment. — Sapa