Major shopping malls in and around Durban say they have upped security measures as they get ready to welcome customers on Black Friday, and throughout the festive season.
There have been at least two robberies at malls this month. In one of them, on Sunday at Pavilion Shopping Centre, a police officer was killed by the fleeing robbers.
This week, Pavilion Shopping Centre general manager Vicky Deppe said that after the robbery comprehensive measures were being put in place to prevent further occurrences.
Deppe said the frequency and visibility of security patrols throughout the centre had been increased to ensure a rapid response to any potential security concerns.
“Strict control measures have been implemented at entry and exit points to monitor and regulate the movement of individuals within the centre.”
Deppe said the centre’s state-of-the-art CCTV surveillance system was monitored to enhance security and aid in incident investigations, and spikes had been installed at parking exits to deter and prevent unauthorised or rapid vehicle departures.
She said the centre’s security measures also included the deployment of armed response vehicles to swiftly address any security incidents and maintain a high level of vigilance.
“Recognising the heightened security needs during the festive season, we have bolstered our security personnel to ensure a safe and secure shopping environment for everyone,” said Deppe.
Cornubia Mall said the mall had engaged a security company and would be increasing security personnel from Black Friday through to the festive season.
“Further engagement with precinct security, armed response and tactical teams have been had with increased visibility around the centre.”
It said its security personnel were undergoing further training to ensure their readiness.
Michelle Shelley, the marketing manager of Gateway Theatre of Shopping, said the centre was ready to welcome shoppers on Black Friday and during the festive season.
Shelley said Gateway was committed to providing a safe and pleasurable shopping atmosphere.
“The centre’s operations team is well prepared for the surge in visitors, with increased staff, strategic queueing and heightened security measures throughout the week leading to Black Friday, the weekend that follows and throughout the festive season,” she said.
Shelley said the measures were in place to manage the influx of shoppers, ensuring a smooth and orderly experience for everyone.
Speaking about robberies at malls, Gareth Newham, the head of Justice and Violence Prevention at the Institute for Security Studies, said the challenge with malls was that they had to be easily accessible to clients and customers.
“There’s obviously only so much that can be done to prevent easy access which means people won’t go to malls because it will be too difficult to get into the mall,” he said.
He said malls could carefully monitor entrance and exit points to look for people who might look suspicious.
“Or at least if a shop is robbed in a mall, they have a CCTV system to track those leaving and make it difficult to leave easily,” he added.
Newham said there should also be a hotline to the police and security.
“Hopefully, they can get enough information about what the perpetrators are wearing and the vehicles they are getting away in, and get that information to the local security and the police.”
He said it was more about making sure that the perpetrators could be tracked and arrested because it was difficult to stop people coming in and out of malls. With regard to robbers targeting jewellery stores at malls, Newham said most high-end jewellery stores make it difficult to get into their shops by having double-door systems or other measures.
“There is only so much that can be done. If people really absolutely plan these crimes and spend a lot of time figuring out these loopholes in the security systems, there’s not much more that you can do.
“You don’t want to have armed guards inside malls because you don’t want a shoot-out to ensue where innocent bystanders get shot, injured or killed,” said Newham.
Newham said the best thing to do was to have systems in place to identify and hopefully pre-empt robbers or at least be able to track them long enough for an arrest.
The Mercury