Police Minister, Bheki Celi, says more than 40 suspects have been arrested for cash in transit heists, since the implementation of a nationwide stabilisation operation early last month.
He said in a statement on Friday that four of these suspects rank among the top 20 of identified suspects wanted for similar crimes.
"A substantial amount of money, as well as arms and ammunition, have been recovered.
The most notable achievement of these operations is that these robberies have been reduced significantly by 61% in the month of June 2018 compared to the month of May 2018," Cele said.
The Police Minister said that in the past week there have been at least five attempted robberies on Cash-in-transit vehicles.
"Two vehicles, one travelling on the N8 highway from Thaba Nchu and the other from Bostchabelo to Bloemfontein when they were attacked by a group of armed men which left both drivers shot and wounded in the leg. This was followed by another attempted robbery of a CIT vehicle while travelling toward Mthatha, then another on Atlas Road in Boksburg which left one suspect dead and a guard injured. The fifth attempt was at an ATM in Dobsonville in Soweto".
Cele said that it must be noted that the security interventions both by police and private security is making it nearly impossible for armed robbers to access the cash.
“The number of arrests is a sign of our commitment to the constitutional mandate to uphold and enforce the law, on the scourge of cash in transit robberies that continue to terrorize our people. Nothing must divert or distract our men in blue from creating a safe and secure environment for all people of South Africa and ensure criminals are brought to justice” said Minister Cele
“We are serious about turning the tide we will not rest until we win the war on criminals” Minister Cele concluded.
Meanwhile, National Police Commissioner, General Khehla Sitole, said that security officers were putting their lives on the line on a daily bases to protect the valuable cargo they transport and they must be commended for their efforts.
"We will continue to stamp the authority of the State in our efforts to prevent, combat and investigate crime and we will do this without any fear or favour," he said.
According to a joint statement, members of a multi-disciplinary investigative task team arrested three men on Thursday in connection with the robbery at a liquor store earlier this week.
General Sitole said that this was one of many the cases of cash-in-transit robberies, attempted cash-in-transit robberies and cross-pavement robberies in which the team had been successful.
