Cash-in-transit robbers frequently and easily corrupt state officials to further their criminal activities.

This is one of the findings made by a senior University of South Africa lecturer who spoke to convicted men about their crimes for his doctoral thesis.

 Open-ended questions were put to 21 men convicted of cash-in-transit robberies and the answers gave a glimpse into their world.

Dr Hennie Lochner said the cases of the 21 men had taken an average of four years to be finalised after their arrests.

The longest period it had taken for a case to be finalised was 10 years and three months‚ and the shortest period was one year and five months.

“The main reason for the postponement of the case was to corrupt officials in the hope that evidence will disappear or [for] witnesses to lose interest in the case.”

Lochner said although corruption was a common phenomenon‚ what struck him during research on the cash-in-transit robbers was the ease and frequency with which state officials could be corrupted.

“This includes magistrates‚ prosecutors‚ traffic officials and police officials. Police officials were mentioned as the officials that had been corrupted the most.”

Lochner said some of the reasons why the robbers corrupted officials was to destroy evidence‚ to get information regarding an imminent arrest and to obtain information about where exhibits were kept so that they could be destroyed or stolen.”

He quoted one of the robbers as saying: “I gave him R600‚000 to destroy evidence. I gave him fifty thousand. I gave him a (Ford) Laser‚ Mercedes‚ a (Volkswagen) Jetta. His house‚ where does it come from?”

Lochner said the research found that those who were responsible for breaking into the cash-in-transit vehicle during the robbery‚ or the inner circle‚ were the most violent and the most experienced robbers.

“Fearless action is taken against security officers who do not obey orders and in one case a cash-in-transit robber was shot dead because he looked a robber in the eye.”

Lochner said the outer circle‚ or the people who secured the crime scene for the inner circle‚ were all armed with automatic weapons.

“From my experience as a former detective who investigated several serious and violent crimes including murders‚ robberies‚ taxi violence‚ farm murders and attacks‚ I can state with authority that the cash-in-transit robbers as a group and as individuals are the most dangerous and violent criminals in South Africa‚” Lochner said.