A Standard Bank automated teller machine (ATM) in Cullinan, east of Pretoria, was blown up in the early hours of Saturday, Pretoria police said.
”Unknown suspects blew up the ATM located within the Spar Centre at about 1.30 am,” said Inspector Paul Ramaloko.
He said police found money scattered all over the floor. ”At this stage it is not known whether the group made off with any money.”
A wave of attacks on ATMs by gangs armed with dynamite has struck further fear into South Africans already dealing with sky-high crime rates.
Apart from the loss of cash, police and banks fear that it is only a matter of time before the wave of attacks ends up in loss of life.
”The use of explosives and the indiscriminate bombings of ATMs can be regarded as terrorism,” said Absa communications manager Errol Smith in March this year. ”It has no regard for the safety of the public nor regard for communities.”
Recent figures showed that the number of cash heists nearly doubled in 2005/06 to just short of 400 in a sign of the increasing brazenness of robbers in one of the world’s most crime-ridden societies. — Sapa, AFP