ON Thursday April 30, employees of Rand Gest in Rhodesfield left for the long weekend only to come back on Monday and find the office had been ransacked.
The export company’s computers and safes had been stolen, along with safes carrying petty cash.
The total cost of loss to the company was worth around R500 000.
The company, situated in Gladiator Street, has a number of security systems installed, including an alarm, cameras, electric fence, and a contract with a security company.
With all these safety and security measures in place the suspects still managed to clean out the company.
Rand Gest export manager Miguel Gomes said he wanted inform the Rhodesfield residents and the Kempton Park community at large, of the criminal activity taking place and the methods being used, so that they can take extra precautionary measures.
“Because the electricity box is right outside our property, they switched off the power, cut the right cables, and waited for a few hours for the backup batteries in the security system to die. This could’ve been approximately six hours, then they returned to break in,” explained Gomes.
Based on the time the cameras went off, Gomes said they were able to speculate and assume when the robbery took place, but couldn’t be sure exactly.
The cameras, he said, went off at around 6pm on Saturday, May 2, and the break-in probably took place in the early hours of Sunday morning.
“We can’t recover information backed on our PCs and the loss of information will affect and impact our business. This loss cannot be measured,” he further added.
Gomes said he suspected the robbers were professionals as not one fingerprint was found by police.
“They knew exactly what they wanted, they came in through the back gate, cut the electric fence, broke a window and bent the burglar bars. They didn’t even touch the company vehicles that were parked out in front,” he added.
According to Gomes, this is the first serious criminal incident they’ve had in the business’s 20 years of operation.
“Residents need to be aware of the dangers around them as more and more business are being opened in the area, and we need to be more vigilant and careful.” he said.
“Any business is important to a city, and crimes such as these can drive potential business away. We are a private society and we don’t really know what’s happening in our neighbour’s house, as long as we are safe, but sometimes if you don’t know what’s happening around you, then you can’t take the necessary precautions and safety measures.”
Gomes pointed out that as much as he was glad the incident wasn’t an armed robbery, his fear was that the perpetrators would return as they knew exactly what the business had, and also knew that everything would have to be replaced.
“We are now living in fear, but at least we are more vigilant,” he said.
A case of business robbery is being investigated by the Kempton Park police.
