[imagesource: Esa Alexander / Sunday Times]

My first thought when I hear the words ‘cash-in-transit’ is explosions, gunfire, and heists.

This year alone, we’ve featured videos of a shootout between the Rustenburg Flying Squad and suspects that ended with one person dead, and a chilled daylight heist at a petrol station in Roodepoort.

Oh, ja, there was also that wild showdown in Vanderbijlpark, a dash for cash in Krugersdorp, and a stick ’em up at the Marabastad Market Stalls in Pretoria.

The very laboured point I’m making is that if you’re behind the wheel of one of these vans, there is a massive target on your back. According to SA Banking Risk Information Centre stats, 2020 has seen a 34% increase in attacks on cash-in-transit vehicles compared to last year.

TimesLIVE spoke with a number of security officers about how the emotional toll of the job, and the ruthless approach they have to take in order to get out alive:

[source:timeslive]