CIT crimes on the decline, but still a long way to go – experts

Although the South African Police Service (SAPS) cites success in the reduction of cash-in-transit (CIT) crimes, an expert says it “does not appear to be a promising decrease” and there is still a lot the police need to do.

Earlier this year, Cash Connect released a report on Business Cash Crime that stated retail related crimes had seen a decline of 7%, while cash-in-transit crimes had dropped 23%. National SAPS spokesperson Vish Naidoo said he could not speak based on these figures as the official Crime Statistics Report by the SAPS was scheduled to be released sometime in September.

“If you look at the intervention implemented after the sudden spike in cash-in-transit crimes last year, you will see a significant reduction. There are still criminals who attempt to commit the crime but are unable to do so successfully,” said Naidoo.

He said the reduction was not only the effort of the government’s law enforcement agencies but also a collaboration with the private security companies the police worked with.

“The only issue we are experiencing now is one of the companies whose name I cannot mention. They are not adhering to minimum standards and are not taking the initiative to ensure they are not targeted by the criminals. But we are working on the issue,” said Naidoo.

Institute for Security Studies (ISS) researcher Johan Burger said there did appear to be a promising decrease.

“According to Sabric’s Annual Crime Stats Report for 2018, there has been a 22% decrease in CIT robberies from 2017 to 2018 (from 376 to 292 incidents),” Burger said.

“There certainly remains a lot for the police to do. In spite of these reductions CIT robberies remains an ongoing problem and poses a daily risk to the general public as well,” Burger said.

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