Police to ATM Bombers: Account Closed
A seemingly ubiquitous crime in South Africa in recent months has been the bombing and looting of ATM machines, especially, but not exclusively, in urban areas, particularly in Gauteng. The professionalization of this crime, and its recent profusion caused the Democratic Alliance to call for a probe of ATM bombings last month. Perhaps the DA’s (politically motivated — let’s not kid ourselves) demands have yielded fruit. Early on Thursday the Gauteng police busted an ATM bombing “syndicate.” It remains to be seen if this is part of a larger operation, but it indicates at least an attempt to get to grips with what has grown from a bizarre agate-type story to a real epiphenomenon.