Car theft angers shoppers

Speaking to Berea Mail last week, two shoppers were angered that their vehicles had been stolen from the centre, and said the management didn’t seem overly concerned about their loss.

The shoppers, who asked not to be named, both complained that the thieves had tailgated their vehicles out of the centre, and said something needed to be done to improve security in the parkade.

“My car was stolen from the centre on 25 January, and the management of the centre were no help at all. I want to urge people who park at the centre to be vigilant and not to be a statistic,” said one of the victims.

The other motorist had parked his vehicle outside the gym at 5am on 26 January, and when he was about to leave at 7am, he noticed his car had been stolen.

“The other floors of the centre are empty at this time of the day, so surely there should be more guards on the floor outside the gym as there are a lot of cars there. These men must have tailgated my car out of the centre as I still have the parking ticket. This issue needs to be highlighted as this happens often. There were quite a few cars stolen from the centre last year. We are charged a lot for parking and centre management aren’t helpful at all. We asked to view the CCTV footage, but security wouldn’t help,” he said.

On social media, a resident said they felt the centre doesn’t care about security as no active stand was being taken. They said they had hardly seen security around when they left their (store) floor for the past week.

Another resident said he had heard a plan had been put into place by the centre to upgrade security but this had to first be approved by the landlord. He said if it is approved, it will only kick off in the new financial year.

Ward councillor Chris Pappas, said this issue was discussed at a meeting with the police last month, and that Berea SAPS is committed to holding a meeting with centre management to discuss beefing up security and looking at other protection measures.

In response to queries by Berea Mail, marketing manager for Musgrave Centre, Nicole Gounden, said there are certain protocol and procedures that must be adhered to when an incident takes place.

“These incidents are currently under investigation by the SAPS. All CCTV footage and information relevant to the incidents have been made available to SAPS. It is at the discretion of SAPS to release the footage upon request as this forms part of an on-going investigation. Our security senior management is in constant contact with the community policing forum and maintains strong ties with SAPS,” she said.

Gounden said the centre has always been adequately staffed with a visible security presence 24 hours a day and guards are strategically placed at particular points while others conduct monitored patrols.

“We strongly encourage all drivers to ensure that all valuables in vehicles are put out of sight and that the car handle is checked and locked after securing the vehicle, as the use of jamming devices have become more prevalent throughout South Africa over past years,” she said.