WATCH | 'False plates' found on car that raced over shopping mall spikes

A getaway vehicle that two women used to drive through a boom gate equipped with security spikes allegedly had false number plates‚ management of the Clearwater Mall in Roodepoort said on Monday.

"The number plates on the car have been reported as false number plates‚" said Lauren Meyer‚ on behalf of mall management.

"[The police] are trying to ascertain if the vehicle has been reported as stolen‚" she added.

Police spokesperson‚ Kay Makhubele‚ said while investigations into this continued‚ they would keep the vehicle impounded‚ adding that it had "been used in a crime".

The two women were alleged to have stolen goods at Woolworths just moments before their brazen getaway attempt.

"[The alleged shoplifting suspects] tried to flee by driving through a boom security checkpoint‚ puncturing the tyres of the car they were in‚" said Meyer.

Cellphone video footage recorded by an eyewitness spread rapidly on social media on Sunday.

"They tried to cut in front of my mom and then we realised that they were stealing. And then they just went over the spikes and over the boom‚" a woman can be heard saying in the recording‚ in between asking people to call the police.

In the footage‚ two women are seen being confronted by security guards after coming to a stop due to the punctured tyres.

But in a bizarre twist‚ as the driver of the vehicle and her dreadlocked passenger are yanked out of the car‚ she claims not to even know the other woman.

"Open this car‚ open this car‚" the security can be heard shouting at the driver of the vehicle in IsiZulu‚ as she struggles to drive any further with her punctured tyres.

The driver then unlocks the doors but immediately protests her innocence.

"It's this girl. She told me to drive!" the woman shouts‚ referring to the passenger who is being dragged out of the backseat of the vehicle by her hair.

As security escort the driver away‚ she turns to her passenger and shouts: "Why did you do this?"

"I don't even know this girl‚" she says to security guards. In response‚ the security guards are heard asking why she drove off. "You are the one who was driving‚" a guard says to her.

She ignores this‚ to direct another remark at her passenger. "Lady‚ what have you done?" Her passenger replies by swearing at her.

Meyer said the two women were handed over to the police. She did not immediately know what exactly had been stolen or how much the goods were worth.