admin
The loss of US$58 000 to burglary by TM supermarket in Gweru over the weekend should raise a bright red flag for all retailers and any other entity or individual who handles a lot of cash. The message is clear: Take your money to the bank.
This theft has come hot on the heels of a similar heist at Spar Marimba last week when thieves made off with US$30 000. That is US$88 000 dollars within a period of less than seven days.
The latest incident in Gweru demonstrates just how most businesses are not equipped to secure large amounts of cash overnight. Not only do banks have more robust cash storage facilities and alarm systems, they are also insured against such contingencies.
In the Gweru case it is believed that unidentified perpetrators climbed in through a window before blowing the safe and making away with the money.
Although some vendors heard a loud explosion around 2 am and alerted the police, the conjecture was that there was an electrical fault only for the supermarket staff to discover the theft in the morning when confronted with an open safe.
There is a question that everyone is asking. Is the supermarket so hard up that it cannot even afford a security guard to keep an eye over their premises? At least the alarm would have gone up sooner and there would have been a chance of apprehending the criminals.
On the other hand it is doubtful that one security guard with a baton would have been much of a deterrent for a determined gang.
Which brings us to the point; the supermarkets have no business stashing such large sums of money in their safes overnight instead of taking it to the bank because they are just not equipped to look after it.
One obvious argument would be that supermarkets remain open way after banks close and they cannot avoid being left with some cash on their hands overnight. As it was a month-end weekend, it is even conceivable that business was so good for TM Gweru that the cash in their safe was accumulated between the end of the banking business and the close of the supermarket.
A reliable security company cash-in transit service and a discreet arrangement with the banks would resolve that problem.
And a bank that is not willing to flex its operations for such big clients is not serious in its business operations.
Another factor to consider is that this particular crop of thieves appears to be hard core and playing for high stakes.
The use of explosives without any fear of reaction to the noise and the wanton malice of burning notes that they did not want to take with them shows that the thieves are not afraid and bode ill for any person who may chance on them during the raids.
If the thieves are able to get hold of explosives, what else can they lay their hands on? And how far are they willing to go in their quest to get rich quickly?
The recent recovery by the police of 100 capped fuses and 26 blasting cartridges from Elitha Sibanda, a Zimbabwean woman, at Beitbridge Boarder Post points at a possible unwelcome link of the safe blowers to South African criminals.
Our neighbours have a highly unenviable rate of crime with the blowing of ATMs a common occurrence.
We would not want to see that culture proliferating in this country, which has enough challenges of its own.
Therefore it is of paramount importance to prevent further burglaries immediately.
In a perfect world, the police would move in quickly and the courts would put the burglars away for a long time.
But in a burglary where no one saw anything, it is unlikely that any arrests are imminent and it is up to businesses to make themselves less attractive targets.
The only permanent form of security for handlers of large cash is to make sure that the burglars get very little returns in their night forays.
The law of diminishing returns will soon convince the thieves to view retailers as not worth the bother.
But should the burglars continue to reap such windfalls, the supermarkets will remain prime targets and the unsavoury trade is likely to attract even more perpetrators.
Online Reporter