Thousands of Motor Transport Workers Union (MTWU) security officers in the cash-in-transit industry will on Tuesday march across major cities to table their demands.

The workers are demanding an immediate end “to the senseless slaughter of the colleagues in armed cash-in-transit heists‚ especially Gauteng‚ Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal‚ which has reached crisis levels in recent months; hitting 159 in the first six months this year compared to 147 for the entire year in 2017”.

Unions in the sector are also demanding that workers be given more powerful weapons to defend themselves.

The marches will proceed along the following routes in the major urban centres:

In Johannesburg‚ an estimated 1‚000 MTWU members accompanied by 60 armoured cash trucks will depart from 20 De Korte Street in Braamfontein at 9.30am and proceed down Jorissen‚ Biccard and Simmonds Streets to Beyers Naude Square in the CBD‚ where a Memorandum of Demands will be handed over to Gauteng MEC for Security and Safety‚ Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane.

In Durban‚ hundreds of MTWU security officers will gather at Gugu Dlamini Park at the Workshop at 8.30am before proceeding along Masabalala Yengwa Avenue and right into Somtseu Road towards Hoy Recreational Park‚ where they will hand over a Memorandum of Demands to the Provincial Police Commissioner.

In Cape Town‚ the group‚ accompanied by four trucks‚ will depart from Keizersgracht at 10am in Cape Town central‚ move down Darling Street into Adderley Street‚ head towards Wale Street and end at the Western Cape Provincial Parliament‚ where a memorandum will be handed over.

In Bloemfontein‚ marchers will gather at Mahungra at 7am and proceed along Mandela Street‚ and finally into Charlotte Maxeke Street towards the Provincial Commissioner’s office‚ where they will hand over the memorandum.

In Nelspruit‚ the procession will gather at G4S offices at 6am and move to the rugby stadium before proceeding towards Nelspruit Police Station‚ where they will hand over the memorandum to the Provincial Police Commissioner.

Meanwhile‚ the parliamentary portfolio committee on police will on Wednesday be briefed on the heist crisis.

The seven priority areas priority that the committee will focus on during the hearing are:

• The intelligence and operational readiness of the South African Police Services;
• The current cooperation between the SAPS and the private security industry;
• Vetting procedures in the police and private security industry;
• State of training‚ vehicles and protective gear of security officers;
• Regulatory environment and the role of PSIRA (Private Security Industry Regulation Authority)
• Cooperation between the banking sector and law enforcement agencies; and
• Technological innovations to curb the incentives to engage in cash-in transit heists.