Blog South Africa

ATM bombs: Progress at last?

Finally after more than a year, police are now speaking to representatives in the mining industry to determine whether commercial explosives have been used in the ATM bombings. This follows yet another bombing in Dube Village, Inanda on Monday morning.

“It has been suspected for a while that the commercial explosives used by the bombers are coming from the mines,” a senior police official said.

“We are now looking into whether left-over explosives that we have recovered from ATM bombings in the past week can be traced back to the mines.”

Well duh! Didn’t I say this ages ago in this blog? Has it only recently occurred to the police that this is the place to begin the investigation? If they had bothered to do the obvious months ago, many of these attacks could probably have been stopped by now. If they have known about it ‘for a while now’, why didn’t they speak to the mining industry before this?

South African Banking Information Centre chief executive officer Gilbert Swarts said: “We do know that commercial explosives similar to the ones used in the mining industry are used in most ATM bombings. We have engaged with the Inspectorate of Mines, the Department of Minerals and Energy and the mining industry in general.”

According to the IOL article I read, an explosives expert, who did not want to be named, said: “Commercial explosives are not readily available to the public. Only licensed blasting contractors and people in the mining industry can buy them.

“The explosives industry is very rigid and the purchase and use of explosives is strictly monitored.”

This I also mentioned in this blog months ago. If I who has no police training at all can come up with these obvious clues, why does it take the police so long to do so?

Chamber of Mines spokesperson Jabu Maphalala was not yet in a position to issue a statement. Why am I not surprised?

While I am on a roll I will give another few predications:

1) An investigation will reveal that most of the mining companies do not control the explosives very well and that tons will have been discovered to be missing.

2) While some explosives may come from the mines, many of them have come across the border from Zimbabwe.

3) There is a massive corruption ring involving mining officials, ATM bombers and police officers.

4) Government corruption/inefficiency will be responsible for the lack of security, but no-one will be fired ‘until you can present me with proof’.

Let us see whether any of these predictions come true!