According to Paul on 30 August at 5pm she arrived at the mall with her two children, parked her car in the parking area of the lake entrance and went inside to do her shopping. When she exited the mall she searched the parking area in vain, only to find that her car was missing. She confronted the parking attendant in the parking area who allegedly told her that he hadn’t seen anything because he had gone to the toilet.
When Paul approached the mall’s security, she was told that the CCTV cameras in the parking lot did not cover the area she was parked in.
“I think that Fourways Mall has a more serious problem than we would like to believe,” she said. “The security at this mall is very poor.”
Marijke Arran, spokesperson for Fourways Mall said Paul’s incident was being looked into. “It is important to note that the vehicle entered the parking area and drove around for awhile and eventually parked in the furthest parking space along the perimeter fencing, hence the CCTV cameras could not capture the theft,” she said.
Arran said the parking attendant had been in the middle of the parking area at the time, but was told by Paul that he should make sure her vehicle wasn’t stolen. “The parking attendant later went into the centre to have his tea break and when he returned the vehicle was gone,” she said. Arran said the parking attendant will be subjected to a voice stress test. “We take our customers safety very seriously and can proudly note that we have not had any reported car thefts or incidents of this nature in the past,” Arran said.
“We are extremely confident that a vehicle theft syndicate is not operating at Fourways Mall.”
Warrant Officer Balan Muthan, head of communications for the Douglasdale police said, “From the side of the police we have advised all shopping centres to upgrade their CCTV cameras as this will help in curbing crime.We as the police can only advise on security measures.” Muthan could not confirm whether a vehicle theft syndicate was operating at the mall.
