The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) on behalf of the banking and cash in transit (CIT) industries welcomes the release of the annual crime statistics by the Honourable Police Minister, Mr Nathi Nhleko this morning.

SABRIC has expressed concern that violent crime is on the increase, as exhibited by the statistics.

SABRIC’s crime statistics also indicate increases for bank robberies, bank burglaries and CIT robberies.  The good news, however, is that we have seen an 11% decrease in ATM Attacks for the past year reported on by the Minister.  This decrease indicates a positive impact on the fight against ATM attacks. This decrease in ATM attacks is consistent with the previous year’s 17% decrease.

In order to fight the scourge posed by violent criminals SABRIC, the Banks and the CIT companies work closely with the police. ”We continue to review all working structures to appropriately address the threats posed by organized criminals”, says SABRIC CEO, Kalyani Pillay.

It is only through such collaboration that we will ensure that the fight against organized crime is dealt with. We believe that fighting crime is a collective responsibility and that not only that of law enforcement.

“We would also like to thank the police for continuously striving to collaborate with the banking and CIT industries to ensure that the criminals are brought to book and we look forward to more arrests and successful prosecutions said Pillay

Issued by SABRIC