Moot police concerned as business robberies are escalating
In another incident, a man entered a liquor store in Johan Heyns Drive also pretending to be customer interested in purchasing expensive whisky.
Two Moot businesses were targeted by armed robbers pretending to be customers in two separate incidents recently.
On Friday, November 5, four men entered a shop on the corner of Frederika Street and 18th Avenue in Rietfontein pretending to be customers wanting to buy cool drinks.
One of the four men pulled out a firearm which he pointed at the employees and a customer.
According to Captain Anton Breedt of the Moot police station, the suspects robbed the shop of an undisclosed amount of money, cigarettes and airtime.
“Before fleeing in a silver Renault, they also robbed the customer of his cellphone,” he said.
In another incident on Saturday, a man entered a liquor store in Johan Heyns Drive at around 15:30 pretending to be a customer interested in buying expensive whisky.
“While following the cashier to the office where the expensive liquor was kept, the man pulled out a firearm and ordered employees to lie down on the floor.
“The suspect managed to open the cash registers and took an undisclosed amount of money. He fled on foot. No shots were fired during both incidents,” said Breedt.
Breedt said most – but not all – of these robberies took place to closing time.
He gave the following tips to local businesses:
– Always be alert of customers entering the business after normal trading hours.
– Make regular cash drops to make sure there isn’t a large amount of money in the tills.
– Don’t allow any persons in restricted areas at the business.
– Report any suspicious-looking persons or vehicles to the police.
– When trading outside normal trading hours, use a security gate to control customers.
– Also when trading outside normal trading hours or 24/7, invest in an approved and reliable security company or alarm system with panic buttons.
– Use different routes or time frames when depositing money.”
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Pretoria Moot station commander Colonel Hlengeni Giben Mashaba also appealed to businesses to take more safety measures.
Business robberies aside, theft of motor vehicles and car jamming were a problem in the area.
There has been an increase in thefts of motor vehicles especially NP 200 bakkies, Volkswagen Polo and Toyota Etios, according to Johan Kotzé of Mantis Security.
“Car jamming is a huge concern as drivers assume their doors are locked without checking whether it is closed,” said Kotze.
“We have become too at ease and people need to realise that this is the reality. People must be aware of their surroundings.”
In the past week, three cases of vehicles thefts have been reported to Kilnerpark Security.
“A grey Polo was stolen in front of a school in Queenswood last week,” said Kilnerpark Security spokesperson Ancelize van der Kooi.
“We were also alerted of a silver and a white Polo that was stolen in Codonia Avenue.”
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