There are fears as retailers gear up for the Christmas season
In the latest incident, a security guard was injured and a shopper had a close encounter with death.
The drama began at 9am yesterday when at least 12 armed men simultaneously robbed a jewellery store and a bank in the mall.
Police said the suspects drove around Menlyn Retail Park, near the Menlyn shopping mall, in two cars before storming Eastern Pearl jewellers and then a Nedbank branch, at which they demanded money from the cashiers .
A shoot-out ensued and a security guard was shot in the shoulder.
The suspects fled in opposite directions.
Police spokeswoman Sergeant Lynnette Erasmus said: "One car got away with the jewellery but we managed to retrieve some of the stolen money. Three pistols were found but the police are still looking for the AK-47 rifle that was used."
Police shot and injured one of the robbers, who tried to hijack a car, and arrested seven others dispersed around the shopping centre.
The hunt was still on late yesterday afternoon for robbers believed to have escaped in the second vehicle.
Yesterday's robbery comes after two incidents at the Greenstone Mall, in eastern Johannesburg, this week, and a robbery at the Dunkeld West Shopping Centre, in northern Johannesburg, on Sunday.
There are fears that the spate of mall robberies will increase as retailers gear up for the Christmas shopping season.
Nico Troostheide, 39, was lucky to escape unscathed when one of the robber's bullets narrowly missed him. Several of the robbers tried to hijack his car. He said he "had an angel watching over him".
"As I drove out [of the shopping area], I looked left and saw five people coming towards me. The way they were running made me realise that something was wrong. The next thing I had a gun pointed at my head," he said.
"I just put my foot down [on the accelerator] and turned my head to the right when a shot went off."
Juanita du Plessis, an employee of Eastern Pearl jewellers, was traumatised: "I would not wish something like this on my worst enemy," she said.
Eastern Pearl owner Michelle Rodrigues said that the situation had to be brought under control and that yesterday's robbery was the third at an Eastern Pearl branch in two months.
"When nine people with AK-47s enter a shopping centre it is an assault, not a robbery. How do we fight that?" Rodrigues asked.
The police said the security guard was in a stable condition at the Pretoria East Hospital.
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