Explosive heist at Pinetown bank

ITHALA Bank clients were shocked on Monday morning in Hill Street, Pinetown when they were met by the sight of police tape and broken glass  after an explosive heist by a gang of robbers on Friday morning.

One of the vendors in Hill Street said he arrived at work and saw glass pieces scattered all over.

“Police and the bomb squad were here almost the whole day on Friday ,” said the vendor.

Pinetown SAPS communications officer, Lt Bongumusa Manqele said the incident happened at midnight on Friday and the perpetrators escaped with a substantial amount of money.

“The Ithala staff arrived at 6.30am to find pieces of glass and wood from door frames lying all over.

“The robbers gained access to the bank by breaking an exterior of the wall of the bank.
“They removed the cameras and cut the alarm system. They bombed two safes and the ATM but the ATM did not open,” said Manqele.

Ithala Bank spokesman, Themba Mathe said, there is a police investigation that is currently going on and we are not at liberty to divulge how much money was stolen as this might jeopardise it.

“Extensive damage was caused to the branch as the perpetrators used explosives to gain access to the safe.

“At this point we are not able to give a definite date on which the branch will re-open for business as we had to assess the extent of the damage before commencing with repairs.

“We want to ensure that the premises are safe for our customers. However, it is business as usual at Ithala because we have another branch within close proximity to Hill Street, at Pinewalk Shopping Centre, where our Hill Street branch customers are currently being serviced,” said Mathe.

A case of break-in and theft was opened at the Pinetown police station and no one has been arrested yet.