POLOKWANE – In the fourth robbery of its kind over the past few months, three armed robbers, pretending to be shoppers robbed the MTN store in Savannah Mall on Wednesday, shortly after the store opened.
The robbers reportedly made off with the cash register float, as well as money that was ready to be banked. They also took most of the cell phones, and other stock such as laptops.
Savannah Mall marketing manager, Karen Botha said three men walked into the store with an empty shopping trolley, pretending to be shoppers.
Shortly after entering the store, the men took out firearms and forced the three store employees into the back office, where their legs and hands were tied with cable ties.
The robbers took all the money, packed the stock they could access into the trolley and left the store and the mall casually as if nothing untoward was occurring, Botha said.
She said once the robbers had left, the store manager managed to make his way out of the store into the mall where he alerted a shopper who assisted him and alerted the mall security officers.
The police were contacted and were on the scene within minutes, she added.
“We are thankful that no one was hurt during the robbery. The quick response of the police and emergency personnel made all the difference, and with the help of the video footage from the mall and the store, we are confident that these men will be behind bars very soon,” Botha said. She said mall security was constantly being upgraded, and it was a rule of mall management that stores in the mall each submitted emergency plans. These emergency plans were also practised regularly to ensure employees and security were aware of their duties and action to be taken during any incident that could arise.
“This was an unfortunate incident and we can assure the public as well as the criminals that Savannah Mall is up for the challenge. Meetings have been held to make arrangements to fit this new modus operandi into the current security plan to make sure this incident does not happen again.
“I would like to thank the police and medical services for their quick action even though there were no injuries, and a special thank you to the shopper who assisted the manager of the store to free himself and alert the security,” Botha concluded.
By the time of going to print, the store manager was not available for comment.
Late last year, two mobile phone stores in Polokwane were also robbed, as well as one in Mokopane. The same modus operandi was used in all of these robberies.
Polokwane police spokesperson WO Lesiba Ramoshaba confirmed the lates incident, saying a case of armed robbery was being investigated.
No arrests have been made in these cases as yet. “We urge all shop owners in all areas to be aware and report all suspicious people to their nearest police station,” Ramoshaba said.
