Online Reporter
THERE has been a continued rise in robbery cases where armed robbers target businesses and offices where large sums of money are kept on premises.
Today we have a report of a Mt Pleasant company which lost US$33 000 cash to armed robbers who easily dealt with the three guards, using shoelaces for instance, on the premises on Saturday.
The robbers blasted two safes and stole the cash and went away.
Earlier in the week, we had a report of three staffers, who lost a total of US$22 446 stashed at their office drawers at Chloride Zimbabwe in Workington.
One of the victims had as much as US$19 082 while the company lost US$3 564 cash and property yet to be valued.
Just like the Saturday incident, there were three guards on the premises were easily dealt with by the robbers, who ransacked the building and emerged with the cash after handcuffing the security guards.
Earlier in the month, armed robbers pounced at FuserTech in Eastlea and stole cash and equipment worth US$20 000.
Six armed robbers raided the premises and stole US$13 500 cash which was inside a drawer in one of the offices.
Elsewhere, four men were arrested in connection with the recent armed robbery involving US$129 111 at Meru Service Station.
The armed robbers went away with US$129 000 collected from three fuel service stations in Harare.
The list goes on.
What seems clear is that the robbers are somehow armed with vital information on the presence of these large sums of money on premises, which they then raid.
That would then suggest inside help for these armed robberies.
But what is important is for businesses to revisit the way they handle cash, especially in the wake of the rising number of robberies.
Key is to ensure safer ways of keeping money while also ensuring safety for staffers, who will be in the harm’s way once these robbers pounce.
There have been efforts by the economy to move with the advancements in digital payments, mobile banking and electronic transfers, which leave little justification for keeping large sums of cash on premises.
Lately there have been concerns about the high charges by banks when transacting but that can never justify keeping large sums of money on premises as the risks far outweigh any convenience, as the above-mentioned cases have shown.
For now, the robberies have largely been happening at night, limiting the harm to security guards who will be fewer than during day when employees and customers will be within premises. However, the presence of huge sums of money on premises means its only a matter of time before the attacks take place during day and thereby endangering lives as both staffers and customers might not be able to deal with the situation in a safer way.
