TimothyBusiness Writer
Following a brazen robbery in July 2022, Securico Security Services, led by Dr Divine Ndhlukula, has emerged stronger than ever.
The incident, where US$92 000 was stolen from a Standard Chartered Bank ATM by armed robbers, could have been a crippling setback. However, Dr Ndhlukula used it as a catalyst for improvement, leading to a surge in new business.
Four armed robbers reportedly attacked Securico Security Services’ (Securico) cash-in-transit team at a Standard Chartered Bank ATM at Newlands shopping centre in Harare while they were preparing to put money in the ATM around mid-morning on the 7th of July 2022.
Securico, however, used the setback to improve its cash management systems and is now getting more business than before.
Speaking at an SME Expo hosted by ZB Financial Holdings, Dr Ndhlukula acknowledged the initial panic: “Following the incident, it looked like the whole world had collapsed.”
Cash management, a key revenue stream for Securico, was directly threatened.
“We said if we lose this one, what happens to the business?”
However, swift action was taken. Transparency and open communication were crucial in mitigating potential damage.
“As soon as it happened, we started instituting measures to remedy and to us our clients were the most important aspect of how things would shift southwards or northwards.
“So all our cash management clients, within 24 hours we had visited them, we had either spoken to them, visited them, and explained the situation because the average person does not understand what it takes to be in such a situation,” said Dr Ndhlukula.
She said during the robbery, her team did not take out their guns because that is what they are trained to do when such an incident happens in public places where innocent lives might be lost.
“However, social media criticism for not using firearms during the robbery (to avoid civilian casualties) had demoralised the guards.”
Dr Ndhlukula emphasised, “Even in the most difficult times, that’s when I have to rally my team and say guys, now we are much stronger. And indeed we actually became stronger from there, we are actually getting a lot of that work from other banks that we didn’t even have.”
She said the incident had forced her company to implement security measures “we hadn’t considered before”.
“We then, immediately, started instituting things that we had not thought of because this thing happened out of the blue.”
The company began implementing measures to gain a deeper understanding of the situation which involved travelling to South Africa (SA), and learn how they manage such situations. They sought to examine how the stakeholders in SA were managing the challenges, and what interventions they were undertaking.
“In a month, we had changed things over, so you need to quickly learn your lesson and you need to quickly implement,”
She said her organisation had used the incident to up its game even though it had to repay the client while getting bad publicity.
This resilience paid off. “We are actually getting a lot more cash management work from other banks that we didn’t even have before,” Dr Ndhlukula said.
The robbery forced Securico to implement stricter security measures and improve operational procedures. Learning from best practices in South Africa further bolstered their systems.
Meanhile, Dr Ndhlukula highlighted the importance of having well defined systems in place, even for the most basic of business activities as having structured systems is essential for the success and stability of any enterprise.
“That way it is very easy for you to manage the business, even if you are not there.
“Anyone walks into a business today, he or she should be able to understand what is expected of them if you have laid down standard operating procedures,” according to the MD.
Bongani Ndlovu