Dark networks: a South African cash-in-transit crime case study

Kok, Anna-Maria

Dark networks: a South African cash-in-transit crime case study

Thesis / Dissertation

2025

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Public Law

Faculty

Faculty of Law

Abstract

Institution Centre of Criminology, Department of Public Law, University of Cape Town The subject matter of this thesis is situated within the criminological domain of organised crime, exploring the structure of cash-in-transit criminal networks in South Africa. Whilst the current literature on cash-in-transit robberies is sparse, academic research on the criminal networks involved in these crimes is non-existent, partly due to the difficulty of obtaining reliable data on inherently covert operations. Therefore, the prevailing understanding of these networks is primarily informed by qualitative interpretations of the phenomenon. This study addresses this lacuna by advancing a mixed methods approach: network analysis is applied to a case study to investigate the nature and functioning of a cash-in-transit criminal network, with the findings substantiated by interviews with members from the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations, the cash-in-transit industry, and subject experts. The case study entails a notorious cash-in-transit robbery in KwaZulu-Natal, with the empirical data on the links among the offenders sourced from criminal justice records. By taking a structural approach, this study explores the characteristics of the empirical criminal network, providing a detailed analysis and visual representation of the connectivity patterns, including network-, community-, and node-level measures. Consistent with illicit network literature, this research demonstrates that disruption strategies based on social capital measures are far more effective than random targeting in dismantling a cash-in-transit criminal network. Informed by the network analysis and interviews, this thesis conceptualises the cash-in-transit criminal network cycle, which results in either trust or distrust among members following each iteration. Finally, the research shows that the stakeholders involved in policing the phenomenon are knowledgeable about criminal networks, but that a lack of crime intelligence, analytical capacity, and cooperation severely limits their ability to respond effectively.