New strategies required to stop mall robberies: COPE

South Africa needed all round partnerships and the use of cutting-edge technology to halt the spate of mall robberies‚ Congress of the People (COPE) spokesman Dennis Bloem said on Thursday.

Mall robberies posed a serious threat to customers and retailers and also “lay bare the inadequacies of the current South African policing system”.

He said it was regrettable that South African Police Service (SAPS) had to police service delivery protests so frequently that it was handicapped from fulfilling its broader constitutional mandate.

This had inadvertently allowed crime syndicates to target malls in Gauteng‚ Western Cape‚ KwaZulu-Natal and many other places in the country.

“COPE is disturbed about the frequency of these robberies. They peak with the approach of the Christmas shopping season. Innocent shoppers will face injury and death if mall managers fail to put better systems into place.

“We also urge the leadership of the SAPS to act proactively and to treat this matter with the urgency it deserves. Better controls of traffic at entry points to the malls and exits from them with the ready availability of rapid emergency response will also prove beneficial.

“Computer and mobile telephony stores and jewellery retailers should have gated entries and metal detectors. They need to do more because they have become easy targets.”

He said COPE called for the “laying down of minimum standards or guidelines for CCV camera installations in malls. We also believe that minimum standards should apply for the training and certification of security personnel employed by mall management. This will enhance security for everyone.

“We call on the South African Council for Shopping Centres to lead this initiative.”

Bloem said urgent joint-partnerships among all stakeholders‚ including the Consumer and Goods Council of South Africa‚ Business Against Crime South Africa and SAPS could not be overemphasised.

On Tuesday‚ two suspected robbers were killed in a shootout with police officers during the failed robbery of a cash-in-transit vehicle at Clearwater Mall‚ west of Johannesburg.This was followed by the news that police had foiled an armed robbery at the East Rand Mall in Boksburg.

RDM News Wire.