My first thought when I hear the words ‘cash-in-transit’ is explosions, gunfire, and heists.
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, are just two of the videos that we featured in 2020, among many more.
If you’re behind the wheel of one of these vans, there is a massive target on your back, which clearly takes its toll on the security officers changed with transporting cash from origin to destination in one piece.
A few of them spoke out about the job, and the ruthless approach they have to take to get out alive last year and it’s chilling.
Moving on to 2021, and ‘chilling’ is too tame a word for an incident that played out in Cape Town on Saturday.
Per CapeTalk, a cash-in-transit guard was hijacked, kidnapped, forced to remove cash from several ATMs, and then let go with explosives strapped to his body.
He was one of two security officers (both were kidnapped) from SBV Services group servicing ATMs.
They were released on the N2 near Macassar.
The Western Cape bomb disposal unit was brought in to rescue the guard:
Is anyone else concerned about the lack of protective gear on the guy disarming the bomb?
SBV released a statement commending their employees on their ability to stay calm in a highly stressful and dangerous situation. They are providing counselling for both of them.
UPDATE: Two of our team members were hijacked while servicing an ATM and were later released unharmed on the N2 near Macassar. One of our staff members had an explosive device strapped to his body, which has been disarmed and safely removed from the scene. https://t.co/NkLbrblto4 pic.twitter.com/l1wvndCjYq
— SBVSouthAfrica (@SBVSouthAfrica) January 30, 2021
The company has appealed to members of the public to come forward if they have any information about the attack.
If you know something you can contact their Early Warning Robbery Hotline, anonymously, on 083 408 7029.
[source:capetalk]
