By Luyolo Mkentane and Janine Oelofse

With the festive season less than a month away, Eastern and Southern Cape shopping centres are beefing up security to counter robbers.

After a spate of robberies at Port Elizabeth‘s Greenacres shopping centre this year, businesses in the Bay are determined not to bow down to armed robbers and say they will make sure security measures are in place.

Shopping Centres Security Initiatives project manager Jenni Irish- Qhoboshiyane said the centre was working closely with police.

“We have a joint initiative with the police at national level and we have addressed the issue of armed robberies in our shopping centres, especially during the festive season.

“We are beefing up security in all our shopping centres nationally,” Irish-Qhoboshiyane said. This was not a once-off thing.

“We are not looking only at this period. We are determined to keep security tight through the festive season and afterwards.”

In January, a robber opened fire at Greenacres after raiding Maurice Levin Jewellers.The man fired at least three shots.

In March, two men were arrested after a midnight robbery at The Bridge shopping centre. It was believed that they were part of a gang of more than 16 members which broke into SpecSavers and Vodacom shops at the complex.

Asked whether security measures were in place for the festive season, a Maurice Levin Jewellers representative said these matters were confidential.

Bruce McWilliams Industries (BMI), which has developed the newly-opened R80-million 17th Quarter shopping centre in Walmer, said it had beefed up security in its developments.

BMI managing director Garry McWilliams said preparations were in hand to counter armed robberies and cash-in-transit heists during the festive season.

Cleary Park Shopping Centre operations manager Graham Botha said: “Apart from surveillance cameras, we plan to deploy four additional security officers.”

The officers would work from December 15 to Christmas Day.

Walmer Park Shopping Centre operations manager Leonard Eybers said security measures were in place.

Shops along the Garden Route will be hiring additional guards and will implement extra security measures to cope with the influx of Christmas shoppers.

Garden Route Mall marketing manager Gaby Peters said: “We will be more than jacked up for security in December. We went through a busy season last December. This year our guards will be also using a transport unit. We will also be hiring additional security guards.”

Shopping centres in Knysna, Mossel Bay and Plettenberg Bay all said extra security guards would be hired for the season.

Southern Cape police spokesman Captain Malcolm Pojie said police would also be much more visible in the town centres.

“Officials who usually work in the offices will be deployed to increase our visibility in the towns. That‘s part of our operational planning for the festive season. In addition, some towns will also deploy Bambananis, volunteers supported by the community safety department. Some are trained neighbourhood watch members.”

Port Elizabeth police spokesman Verna Brink said freight trucks were also targeted during the festive season because “people know it‘s delivery time”.

Consolidated Freight operations manager Ray Robertson said his company closed during the festive period to give its drivers time to spend with their families.

However, hijackings did not only happen during the festive season.

“They happen almost every day on the East London-Durban route. We have been trying to get the police to help us, but to no avail.”

He said shippers relied on satellite tracking as security companies that escorted trucks in certain areas were expensive.

Tracker spokesman Gareth Croker said his company was always on the lookout for signs which might indicate a pending cash-in-transit heist.

The Herald