By Peter Biles BBC News, Johannesburg

South African police are facing well organised gangs

There has been a dramatic rise in South Africa in the number of robberies carried out on security vehicles used to transport large amounts of cash.

According to the latest crime statistics, there was a 74% increase in such incidents last year.

Many of these attacks occurred in the run-up to Christmas last year, when traditionally, more money than usual is moved around the country.

The latest crime figures also show the murder rate remains alarmingly high.

In spite of a 2% decrease, there were still more than 18,000 murders last year.

And there was also a slight rise in the number of car hijackings.

South Africa's international image has long been tarnished by high levels of crime and the huge increase in robberies on security vans suggests that the police still face an uphill task.

Last month, the government announced a new strategy of focusing on organised crime.

But the main opposition party - the Democratic Alliance - has said the police are losing the battle against heavily-armed and well-organised crime syndicates.