294 ATMs blown up in South Africa

There have been 294 ATM bombings -- seven in Gauteng alone during the past two days -- since January this year.

"The dramatic increase in the number of ATM bombings this year ... underscores the need for these crimes to be treated as a national emergency and to be investigated by a dedicated unit within the South African Police Service [SAPS]," DA spokesperson Dianne Kohler Barnard said on Thursday.

It is clear that these attacks are being carried out by highly sophisticated and heavily armed syndicates, which if not adequately dealt with, threaten to add to South Africa's already horrific levels of aggravated robbery, she said.

Police have arrested a 70-year-old granny and her teenaged granddaughter in connection with a spate of ATM bombings that have rocked the area for the past two weeks.

A police source close to the investigation told Dispatch reporter Lubabalo Ngcukana that the granny and her 14-year-old granddaughter were nabbed at a home in Elliotdale south of Mthatha on Thursday evening.

Police say they have seen a dramatic increase in the number of piggy-banks blown up, with upward of 20 heists a week reported in day-care centres in Gauteng. "A lot of ATM bombers are settling down and starting families," said a spokesman. "Armed robbery is a growth industry in this country, so it's natural they're encouraging their kids to learn the trade."

ATM bombings have dominated headlines in recent weeks, with 270 blown up by criminals and 183 blown up by irate bank customers after having their debit cards swallowed.

However police say the spate of piggy-bank blasts is a new phenomenon that reflects the newfound financial security of South African criminals.

"More and more former ATM bombers are investing their earnings in quiet, middle-class lifestyles," said police spokesman Capt. Buksie Grensvegter.

"They're settling down, buying a home in the suburbs, having kids, and obviously passing on their skills to the next generation."

Estate agent Debbi Remora confirmed the trend, saying that she had seen a spike in the number of clients "with a Grade 6 education, some training in either the South African or Zimbabwean military, and a suitcase full of slightly singed banknotes", looking for "somewhere leafy near a good daycare centre".