JUST a week after a local shopping centre’s security was cancelled a liquor store in the centre was robbed.
Ward 10 councillor, Rick Crouch, said, in his opinion, crime has become a problem at the 30-year-old Gillitts Shopping Centre, where he also rents an office.
“There is at least one car stolen weekly and recently the liquor store downstairs from my office was robbed. This all happened while I was in a meeting upstairs,” Crouch said.
“Was it a coincidence that the armed robbery happened one week after the security was cancelled? Had I known three years ago what I know now, I would never have agreed to have my council office in that building,” he added.
Victoria von Berg, a trustee of the centre’s body corporate, said the centre’s units are sectional title units and as such, each unit is individually owned.
“Most of the units upstairs, and the garages, are owned by individuals, whereas the downstairs units and shops are all owned by one company, Capstone, which is owned by Eugene de Beer. These units and shops are then rented to various tenants,” Von Berg said.
She said apart from the recent armed robbery at the liquor store, the same store had also previously been broken into after hours. She added that the estate agency was also broken into earlier this year during the night.
“As far as I recall, these are the only burglaries we have had at the centre over the last two to three years.
“We also had a problem towards the end of last year when several cars were stolen from the parking lot. I met with various people such as the police and SA Can to get advice and we opted for a system of security fencing and gates and chains across the back access points to secure the parking area and in particular, to make sure that the patrons of the gym and restaurants were safe in the evenings. We opted to use the services of a car guarding company to have car guards through the day and evenings,” Von Berg said.
She said once these measures were put in place there had not been a known incident in 10 months, until late August.
When asked why the security at the mall had been cancelled, Von Berg said: “The body corporate made the decision to cancel the services of the car guards due to their poor supervision and performance as well as the fact that the car guards often did not turn up for work at all.
“This led to complaints from various tenants about the car guards not being on site . We made the decision that it was probably better to hire a proper guard and we set about getting quotes.
“The robbery occurred during the change over process from car guards to a proper security guard,” she said.
“De Beer has plans for a refurbishment and extension of the centre and security will always be on the agenda in order to protect the owners, tenants and shoppers,” Von Berg concluded.
De Beer was not available for comment as he is currently in Europe.
