Durban - Police are urging shopping centres across KwaZulu-Natal to step up security in the run-up to the festive season to avoid falling prey to armed gangs.
It comes as Business Against Crime (BAC) on Tuesday revealed plans to roll out automatic number plate recognition technology at malls across the country as part of an early warning system aimed at identifying criminals before they enter the premises.
BAC’s chief executive, advocate Simi Pillay-van Graan, said the technology - which will be linked to the Department of Transport’s eNatis system - should go live next week.
She said that this was part of an “aggressive response” aimed at halting mall robberies, which, according to their statistics had increased by 50 percent over the past year.
“Our concern is not only for the retailers, but that the public is exposed to these robberies too. More has to be done (to halt the robberies) and that is why we are now stepping in to help police stop this problem,” she said. “It was mainly occurring in Gauteng and we are quite concerned that it is spreading to other provinces.”
This week, police in the Western Cape were counting the cost of yet another mall robbery after armed robbers cleaned out a Canal Walk shop of more than R2 million in diamonds, rings and watches on Saturday night. It was the second time in four days the mall had been hit.
It follows a similar trend in Gauteng in recent weeks where several malls have been raided by gangs targeting high-end electronic goods, cellphone stores and cash-in-transit security guards picking up cash.
KZN police spokesman, Colonel Jay Naicker, said officers were working on a “multi-disciplinary approach” alongside organisations such as BAC to combat mall attacks.
“Police are deployed in KZN on a daily basis in terms of crime threats and crime patterns. Visible Policing members are advising malls to step up their security as the festive season nears,” he said. “We have not noticed an increase in mall robberies and have strategies in place to deal with robberies on all businesses.”
Former head of the police crime information analysis centre, Dr Chris de Kock, who retired last year, said the spike in mall robberies might be a result of criminals finding them to be “soft targets”.
“It seems to be a shift in crime target. At one time there was an increase in cash-in-transit heists and when the industry increased security and made it difficult, we saw an increase in ATM bombings. The industry responded to that and we are now seeing a shift to robberies at stores in malls,” he said.
“What has obviously happened is that the gangs have found a market to sell off what they are stealing and now consider this a lower risk (than ATM bombing and cash-in-transit heists).”
De Kock said robberies of all kinds peaked between October and the middle of December as gangs tried to make as much money as possible for the Christmas holidays.
“They also know that stores are stocking up with goods because there will be specials coming up for the festive season and there will be more cash available,” he said.
Sane Ndlovu, spokeswoman for Gateway shopping centre in uMhlanga, said they would be increasing security in the run-up to, and during, the festive season.
“During the festive season our main priority is safeguarding our shoppers and tenants. We’re continuously working with the local police services to ensure that the correct measures are in place in the event of an emergency,” Ndlovu said.
“In addition to this, our retailers operate their own surveillance cameras in their areas.”
Amanda Stops, chief executive of the South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC), said they were working with police and had developed a strategy to deal with a crime surge.
They could not reveal details because they did not want to alert criminals to it.
The Pavilion and Galleria shopping centres did not respond to questions by the time of publication.
Meanwhile Simi Pillay-van Graan, the Durban-born chief executive officer of Business Against Crime (BAC), has stopped going to shopping centres with her two sons after a wave of robberies at malls in Gauteng.
Speaking to the Daily News on Tuesday, she said the robberies were a “major concern” and had led to terrified families avoiding shopping centres.
“As a mother of two young boys, I have been quite reluctant to visit malls with my children. Going to the mall was a regular outing whether it was to the movies or to have lunch - we would do it at least one day at the weekend,” she said.
“We don’t do it anymore.
“There is a huge problem and if I would not want to expose my family to it, I cannot expect that of anyone else.”
Pillay-van Graan said that while she could not provide the Daily News with raw figures, attacks at shopping centres across the country had increased.
“It is very concerning and the numbers should not matter because the fact is that it is happening and it should not be happening. Many people spend time in the malls at weekends and such incidents terrify families.”
She said that curbing the robberies should not be left in the hands of the police alone, and businesses should get involved.
“The retail stores have a huge responsibility to spend money to enhance security. You find a lot of businesses cut back on security because they do not see the value in it. It is all about profit and that has to stop,” she said.
On the new number plate recognition system, she said: “If, for example, the vehicle is reported stolen the system will create an alert and this will be sent directly through to the police.
“We will also have vehicles fitted with cameras that will be mobile on the streets (around the mall), that will patrol in an unsuspecting way to pick up on these (suspicious) vehicles,” she said.
“From the perspective of retailers, if a stolen vehicle enters a shopping centre you know there are problems and this is part of a proactive and aggressive response to the robberies.”
Daily News