City revenue thefts shock council

Buffalo City Metro has moved to tighten its safety measures after its cash handling facilities were targeted by criminals.

So concerned is the city over the matter that it wants to add provision for a cash-in-transit facility for its new primary banker.

The revelation of theft at BCM’s cash handling facilities by the city’s acting CFO, Vincent Pillay, during Wednesday’s council meeting came as a shock to councillors, who said they had not been told.

At present, the city’s primary banker is Standard Bank and Pillay was speaking during a debate about the city’s move to extend its five-year contract with the bank by a year.

The city is now in the market for a new primary bank after this contract lapses.

“This is a five-year banking contract. The process [for a new contract] started some time in 2023.

“The current contract has come to an end in December [and has already been renewed for a year until December 2024].

“The challenge and the delays were due to the specifications in that contract.

“Buffalo City just added an arrangement with the banker ... to pick up the cash.

“We would then want to ensure that this was part of our contract going forward because we didn’t have a signed agreement with them for picking up our cash.

“This came about also with the cash at our offices, our offices have been tampered with, our offices have been broken into like Gonubie and other offices where cash was taken off premises.”

Buffalo City Metro chief financial officer Vincent Pillay. (FILE)

Pillay said the city had had to amend its contract with Standard Bank to include the cash-in-transit aspect.

It also wanted to add an overdraft faculty to the new contract, which would have to be approved by the council.

The city had needed to ask for an extension because of the delays in the process.

City spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya confirmed incidents at two of the city’s properties.

He did not give detailed information about the dates of the incidents, the amounts taken or whether there had been any arrests.

Ngwenya was also mum on the possibility that the incidents may have involved staff.

“Though isolated and few and far between, there have been incidents and attempts in Gonubie and Beacon Bay.

“It is quite obvious that cash on the premises becomes a motivational factor behind such crimes; hence there is a move to neutralise such threats.”

Ngwenya said the buildings targeted were the Gonubie office of the BCM complex which it shared with its community services department, and the Beacon Bay revenue offices.

The Daily Dispatch has previously reported on criminals targeting the BCM property, but at the time the crimes were mainly vandalism and theft of wiring and scrap metal.

BCM has since fenced off a number of its properties, including the City Hall which houses the mayor’s office.

DA councillor Geoff Watson said it was the first time he had heard about the city’s cash-handling facilities being targeted.

“We actually were not aware of any cash having gone, certainly in transit ...

“We are not aware of any cash having gone missing between, say the swimming pool and the bank.

“That’s not been reported to us. Problems in that regard are news to us.”

Walton said they supported the need to have people properly trained for transporting cash, because staff in facilities like the swimming pool were not trained.

It was possible that criminals could get access to money left on site, and he emphasised that it was important that money was kept locked in a safe.

“We would then want to ensure that this was part of our contract going forward because we didn’t have a signed agreement with them for picking up our cash."