Police step up mall security
RMED robbers are becoming more calculating, often outwitting security personnel stationed at malls across the country by making seemingly speedy, untraceable exits.
They target stores in groups and threaten staff and customers as they smash their way around stealing whatever they can grab or stuff into bags.
While shop owners and their employees have been encouraged to become extra vigilant, police are on a mission to clamp down on the recent spike in crime at malls.
The Deputy Minister of Police, Bongani Mkhongi, is reportedly set to intensify police visibility in malls, shopping complexes and ATMs to minimise robberies and heists.
He made the statement on Sunday after another heist in Delft, Cape Town, where suspects shot dead a security officer.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said the task team’s aim was to reduce the rampant crime.
“We are also requesting the management at the malls to make sure they beef up security at their business premises.”
Blue Security operations manager Brian Jackson said the company had recorded at least five incidents of business burglaries at shopping malls and 10 reports of similar crimes had been reported to neighbourhood watch networks from uMhlanga to Scottburgh in the past three weeks.
“Most of the incidents reported to us occurred at night or in the early morning, several hours before stores open for business. Armed gangs smashed their way through the glass doors of stores using hammers in some cases before fleeing with goods ranging from alcohol, clothing, jewellery and electronic devices,” Jackson said.
Armed gangs have targeted The Pearls Mall, Musgrave Centre, The Atrium and Southway Mall, while there have also been reports of incidents at Gateway, Scottburgh Mall, The Galleria Mall, Bluff Towers, Watercrest Mall, Pinecrest Shopping Centre , Kloof Village Mall, The Pavilion and Westwood Mall.
“We urge retail chains, independent store owners and their staff to be vigilant and to ensure that business alarm systems are correctly activated and to be on the lookout for any suspicious activity when opening and closing their shops,” said Jackson.
If you do not already have CCTV surveillance camera installed in the shop, consider upgrading your security, he advised.
“The intelligence gathered via camera footage can go a long way to help police and security companies investigate these crimes.”
Jackson advised staff and managers to make sure no one was following them to the store premises and to immediately report any suspicious activity to the police and their security company.
“Gangs have walked into stores posing as customers before holding up and robbing staff, so it’s important to be security conscious throughout the day and ready to press your panic button in an emergency.”
Meanwhile, the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry is planning a multi-stakeholder meeting to address the issue of crime in the city’s commercial hubs.
The chief executive of the chamber, Dumile Cele, told sister paper The Mercury that the prevalence of this type of crime was of serious concern to the business community.
“Crime infested areas are a deterrent to consumers who naturally avoid shopping in areas where they do not feel safe.”
Cele said this had a ripple effect.
“Such precincts deter investors as they become high-risk areas with no promise of a return on investment. Our economy cannot afford the added strain of growing crime statistics anywhere, but more especially in high activity commercial nodes such as our shopping centres.”