READER LETTER | ATM bombings a problem township residents

The police from Acornhoek are investigating a case of robbery following an ATM bombing incident.
The police from Acornhoek are investigating a case of robbery following an ATM bombing incident.
Image: SAPS

It is an utter disgrace that a country like ours can’t detect crime that is planned or spiraling out of control around townships suburbs. Everyday when we wake up, an ATM at a filling station is bombed. Most of our filling stations have no ATMs now and that forces us the township dwellers to walk long distances to the malls to withdraw our cash.

It is easy to track down these people who are committing these crimes in our townships. Their time to commit these ATM bombings starts at 2am when it is gravely quiet. If the intelligence’s ears were on the ground, I can bet my last cent these perpetrators can be caught in no time. When they do strike, they concentrate on one area at a time but different township.

It can’t be business as usual for these evil doers; that they can just bypass the crime intelligence just like that without being caught or detected. It is frustrating to walk long distances just to withdraw cash at the malls around us and yet we were provided with ATMs right at our doorstep – at the different filling stations that are located in our townships.

These ATMs are playing a very important role in our community by providing the much-needed services to the masses. Our worse fears with these ATMs bombings are those who are housed next to the filling stations, that in case one of the petrol tanks underground caught fire during the bombing that will be a disaster to the dwellers next to that petrol station.

Rey Ntusi Ngema, Soweto


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