While the South African lockdown has resulted in a boom in online shopping with an estimated 1.8 billion active e-commerce shoppers’ packages being delivered across all of Africa, it has also caused a surge in courier van robberies with crime syndicates targeting high-value goods such as mobile devices. To help combat this, VaultGroup, local experts in providing bespoke high-tech electronic lockers and innovative storage solutions, is collaborating with various companies across industry sectors to come up with effective, secure locker solutions.
“Business must adapt to remain secure. But this does not come without a cost. Security investments are significant with the knock-on effect increased prices for the consumer. Joint efforts within the industry and police have become essential. There is no one way to fix this but adopting several solutions that can help minimise these criminal threats,” says Michael Gewer, CEO of VaultGroup.
Recent social media videos aside, these ‘hits’ have become a massive problem over the past several months. In fact, the latest crime statistics show car and truck hijackings increased by almost 6% and 32% respectively. The courier driver and the support vehicles face increasing risk with gangs of up to 25 hijackers swarming a van with military precision and high-grade weapons. No longer are these just opportunistic crimes but highly organised attacks that focus on mobile devices that can be quickly sold on the Black Market.
Storage done differently
“Innovative storage solutions are essential in this regard. For instance, our CellVault ultra-secure lockers feature time-delayed functionality and can be customised with added security features including Active Fog deterrents and off-site surveillance that makes it ideal for retail stores.
To date, VaultGroup has over 40 000 lockers and over 1 500 installations across SA securing more than R1 billion in assets and preventing over 500 potential robberies. Using our expertise in this regard and working closely with courier companies to get an understanding of their specific requirements mean we can develop a bespoke solution. And because the secure locker is locally made, it is significantly more affordable than imported technology that might not even deliver in the specific use case needs of clients,” he says.
Companies must start to think differently about how they approach defensive measures in this regard. It can no longer be ‘every man for himself’. Because this an industry issue, it is now time to partner with different experts to come up with out-of-the-box solutions that help address this scourge.
“Secure storage solutions form part of the growing puzzle of courier protection. When used in combination with other interventions, companies can make it more difficult for syndicates to get away with customers’ valuable parcels. And because these threat actors are constantly evolving, so too must the security sector to remain one step ahead and protect high value assets,” he says.
