A man was robbed of nearly half a million rand at Kenilworth Centre on Monday. Gouwa Waja, the spokesperson for Kenilworth Centre, says an armed robbery occurred in the parking area.
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‘The incident involved at least two perpetrators who fled with an undisclosed sum of cash. No tenants or customers sustained any injuries during the incident.’
‘The mall’s security team acted swiftly, immediately contacted SAPS and we are cooperating fully with the officers in their investigation efforts.’
CCTV footage of the incident circulated on social media. In the 33-second clip, a man wearing a security uniform can be seen entering the building through the automatic doors at around 8:30am.
Watch:
Behind him, another man is seen carrying a backpack, accompanied by his employer. They suddenly stop and attempt to run inside the mall.
However, the man carrying the backpack is stopped by another with a gun. This person grabs the backpack while another masked suspect pats the victim down and takes his firearm.
The perpetrators managed to flee in a silver Toyota Etios with R486 000 in cash and the victim’s firearm.
According to police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk, Claremont detectives are investigating the incident. ‘Claremont police are investigating an armed robbery case following an incident on Monday at a shopping mall in Doncaster Road, Kenilworth, Claremont.’
‘According to the complainant, a 47-year-old male, he was walking towards the entrance of the mall with his employer.’
‘As they were busy talking he saw two unknown males, the suspects, walking towards his employer and pointing a firearm to his head.’
‘He was carrying a bag with an undisclosed amount of cash which they were about to deposit at the bank. The suspect then took the bag and ran away with the contents.’
‘The motive was robbery. No shots were fired. The suspects were wearing caps and face masks. The suspects then fled the scene in a vehicle.’
As reported by Cape Argus, Fidelity Services Group head of communications and marketing, Charnel Hattingh, advised small businesses to take extra precautions when handling cash.
‘The small business sector is a major job creator in South Africa and contributes an estimated R1.5 trillion to the GDP.’
‘Keeping them secure and safe from crime is therefore an obvious priority, but small ‘mom and pop’ shops can often not afford the same kind of sophisticated security systems that bigger companies can afford.’
‘There is, however, still a lot that can be done to protect these small and medium enterprises from crime and criminals.’
‘Businesses are encouraged to scrutinise their security, from the perimeter inwards – or, better still, have a risk evaluation done by a reputable security company.’
‘Support from a guarding or armed response service provider is a good extra layer of protection for staff who are undertaking this daily. When criminals strike, do not resist and assure the assailants that you will cooperate.’
‘They must see that you will not take any action that will jeopardise your safety and that you are not planning any quick or unexpected movements, do not argue with them, as they are in control.’
‘If they instruct you to take something out of your pockets such as a wallet or phone, tell them what you are doing and why you are doing it.’
Hattingh adds that trauma counselling should be considered after an armed robbery.
‘It is very scary to be the victim of an incident where you are faced with a suspect carrying a gun or another dangerous weapon. We recommend talking to someone about what happened, to help deal with the trauma of what you experienced.’
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Picture: Screenshot of video