By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Caption:A cameraman of a national television station taking close-ups of some of the cash-in-transit robbers arrested in Carletonville.
A man was injured on Friday morning in a shooting linked to a cash-in-transit heist on the R501 in Carltonville on the West Rand.
ER24 communications officer, Russel Meiring, said parts of the security vehicle had been scattered all across the scene in an apparent explosion.
He said medics assessed several people on the scene and found that no one had sustained any injuries.
“A short time later, medics were called to Cactus Street in Carletonville for a shooting believed to be related to the heist. On scene, medics found that a law enforcement officer had sustained a gunshot wound to his foot. The man was treated and transported to a private hospital for further care,” he said.
Gauteng police’s Lieutenant Roberts Netshiunda said he was still gathering information about the incident.
Meanwhile more than 50 cash-in-transit heists have been reported in the last two months, statistics from the Cash-In-Transit Association of SA (Citasa) have revealed.
Grant Clark from Citasa said 59 cash-in-transit heists had been reported since the beginning of December up until 3 February 2022.
He said Gauteng was the highest-risk province for CIT robberies.
While CIT companies are spending millions on training their employees to counteract the criminals, Clark said, the groups of perpetrators are getting bigger; they are highly organised with military precision and are becoming more violent.
Clark linked the recent crime activity in the CIT space to joblessness and the subsequent socio-economic problems in the country.
G4S has also raised concerns over the level of violence used when armed gangs target its cash-in-transit vehicles.
This is after SA National Defence Force (SANDF) member and a police officer were among 13 suspects arrested following a cash-in-transit heist in Carletonville.
G4S South Africa MD Renso Smit, said: “Looking at attacks across the year compared with the previous two years, the number of attacks overall has remained relatively constant. Attacks on G4S have also not varied materially from year to year.
The criminals are always heavily armed — with some incidents involving rifles of the calibre of AK47, R4s and R5s — and explosives are often involved to bomb the banks or CIT armoured vehicles.