Criminals are targeting people withdrawing cash from banks in Durban with the number of cases increasing by almost 100 percent in the past year.
Throughout the province the increase has been 90 percent. The SA Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) released its annual customer robbery report at a press briefing in Durban yesterday, which was attended by KZN police commissioner Lieutenant- General Mmamonye Ngobeni.
Sabric operations manager Ronnie Zonke said the other hot spots for such crimes were Pinetown, Brighton Beach on the Bluff and Inanda.
Zonke said in most cases the criminals who waited outside the banks were tipped off by bank tellers who told them about people who had just withdrawn large sums.
He said there were also spotters, who stood in bank queues and monitored people who withdrew cash.
“In 2011 bank users were robbed of more than R2 million, and in 2012 they were robbed of about R5m.
“Although banks did not suffer financially they are affected because of reputational risk,” said Zonke.
Such crimes had decreased in Gauteng, which Zonke said the banking sector could not explain.
“I wish I knew what Gauteng was doing right,” he said.
At a similar Sabric briefing in Midrand, Gauteng, national police commissioner Riah Phiyega lauded the collaboration between the police and the banking sector and said it was important for the role-players to work with the police.
Evolve
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It is important for us as a country to recognise there is much, much more that needs to be done – crime evolves,” she said.
Sabric CEO Kalyani Pillay said organised crime syndicates were usually behind this type of crime.
“You find that if you close the gap in one area it becomes too hot and the syndicates… start to operate in different parts of the province.”
Zonke warned bank users to avoid withdrawing large amounts of cash because it might put their lives at risk.
He said research had established that robbers were active on Tuesdays and Fridays.
He said research also revealed that these crimes started to shoot up in August and dropped in January.
Ngobeni said two alleged fraudsters appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court yesterday on 10 counts of robbing bank customers after they had withdrawn cash either from ATMs or bank counters.
The two accused, Nkanyiso Ntenza and Njabulo Morrison Ngcobo – who is an internal auditor for the eThekwini municipality – were alleged to have been “spotters” for a gang that robbed people who withdrew large sums of money.
They would allegedly watch the clients and then alert the gang which would then carry out the robbery. The hearing was to decide if bail would be granted.
Ngcobo abandoned his bail application, while Ntenza was granted bail of R5 000.
The case has been postponed until October 26.
