Cell robbers terrorise mall
A rush-hour robbery took place at Riverside Mall last week Wednesday, at approximately 16:00.
MBOMBELA – Beate Dednam, marketing manager of Riverside Mall, confirmed that the perpetrators made off with an undisclosed amount of merchandise.
“No tenants or customers were harmed during the incident,” Dednam said.
The provincial South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesman, Brig Leonard Hlathi, stated that the goods stolen are worth just over R18 000.
“The three suspects are still at large and no arrests have yet been made,” Hlathi said.
Dednam reiterated that the safety of shoppers and tenants are of the utmost importance to the shopping complex. “We are giving our full cooperation to the SAPS. The area has been secured, and the mall is trading as normal,” she said.
Callum MacPherson, from Hi-Tech Security, confirmed that the company briefly assisted, but that they are not the mall’s contracted security company. “The shop assistant had been tied up and the armed suspects had robbed the store of an undisclosed number of cell phones before their escape,” he explained.
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The mall’s security, as well as the SAPS, responded swiftly to the crime scene, Dednam said.
She explained that they are constantly assessing their security measures and are continuously implementing improvements, for example by ensuring that their state-of-the-art cameras are in top condition. “We have recently installed a licence plate recognition system to identify vehicles and we are working closely with local armed response units and the SAPS,” she said.
On June 29, Lowvelder also reported on an armed robbery that took place at the mall late in the afternoon, where the perpetrators escaped with jewellery of an unknown value.
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