Cape Town - A spike in robberies at shopping malls has led retailers to take action to protect staff and shoppers.
The South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC) said it would collaborate with SAPS to combat organised criminal threats to malls and retailers.
Kick-starting the initiative, meetings will take place early next week in Gauteng between police and representatives from shopping centres and retailers.
SACSC president Marna van der Walt said the organisation had noted an increase in robberies of malls and retail shops as she believed other targets, such as ATMs and cash and carry vans were becoming too dangerous to target.
“We are seeing a new trend where they go for the high value items in stores. We now need to protect the shopping malls, retailers and public.”
Higher visibility of police and the use of technology and intelligence were on the cards
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“Our ultimate goal is to proactively have all our affairs sorted out… where we can continuously share intelligence, and make retailers aware of suspicious activities and monitor them.”
Amanda Stops, chief executive of SACSC, said “by sharing crime information we can all benefit… retailers need to work in tandem with shopping malls, security providers and the police to ensure we are all suitably vigilant at higher-risk times for each store.
“This can only be achieved with excellent communication and a keen focus on crime prevention.”
Van der Walt added that procedures would be put in place for retailers and malls to know who to contact in the case of criminal activity, how to react, and hoped that an agreement could be reached on minimum security requirements.
She also said that because of trauma experienced by staff and shoppers, they will continue to be provided with on-site counselling.
Van der Walt added that the council aimed to implement these protocols by the festive season and wanted meetings between retailers and police to take place on a regular basis.
Cape Times