Cash-in-transit security guards will down tools on June 11 over a failure by government and employers to protect them from what they say is a "pandemic" of attacks against them. According to IOL, security guards affiliated to the Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) say there are "criminal syndicates and organised criminals" at work which government is failing to stop.
The Motor Transport Workers' Union (MTWU) has also called for an urgent meeting with the manager of major cash-in-transit companies, Fidelity Cash Servies, G4S Cash Solutions and SBV for later this month.
Fedusa general secretary Dennis George reportedly said calling the latest spate of attacks a "pandemic" was an understatement.
"The cash-in-transit pandemic is understated; however, the statistics show that, in 2014, there were 180 cash-in-transit incidents. The cash-in-transit incidents in 2017 increased by 105 percent to 370 in just three years.
"The main reason for the extreme increase could be attributed to the fact that cash in transit vehicles are seen as "soft and easy targets" due to under-investment in strong security measures and that the security companies focus primarily on maximising profits."
He reportedly said an economic crisis could be triggered by this, as ATMs have to loaded daily.
"A one-day strike will create scarcities of cash money, a two-day strike will cause large sums of cash piling up with retailers and a three-day strike will cause an economic crisis."
On Wednesday night, there was another attempted cash-in-transit heist along the M1 on the Marlboro offramp in Sandton, Eyewitness News (EWN) reported. Reports suggest that a black BMW and a white Mercedes Benz were seen speeding away from the scene after a cash-in-transit van was shot at.
Suspects arrested in connection with a cash-in-transit heist in Boksburg last week appeared in court on Wednesday, according to TimesLive.
Two G4S guards were injured when two vans were bombed on Atlas Road last Thursday. Ten suspects were reportedly involved and some were arrested at a hostel later that day.
According to Eyewitness News, police commissioner Khehla Sitole reportedly told Parliament's oversight committee on police that investigations into cash-in-transit heists had been intensified, and said police are expecting the delivery of 66 "high powered vehicles" to patrol the country's highways.
"We have intensified the investigation and on the side of the unconventional because we also want to get into the security companies, sometimes we suspect there is a deeper problem," he reportedly said.
The driver of the van involved in Wednesday's incident, a security guard, reportedly escaped with only minor injuries and was rushed to hospital, according to TimesLive. ER24 spokesperson Annine Siddall reportedly said the man sustained injuries to his arm.
"Three more men‚ all believed to be between the ages of 20 and 50‚ did not sustain injuries. Two of the men were travelling in the cash-in-transit van and two more men were in a security vehicle when shots were fired at them‚" Siddall reportedly said.
Meanwhile, the Gauteng MEC for Transport, Ismail Vadi shut down the Tsakane taxi rank in Brakpan, Johannesburg on Wednesday after a shooting where four people were killed, according to News24. No taxis would be operating from the rank and law enforcement was deployed to the area on Wednesday night.
The shootout reportedly took place after a meeting between rival taxi owners over disputed taxi routes.