Brooklyn residents are urged to be more vigilant following a recent spike in armed robberies and attempted car thefts in the area.
The Brooklyn SAPS are investigating two armed robberies at The Club centre in Hazelwood recently.
Spokesperson Colette Weilbach said one robbery was on 29 September when people in a blue car blocked off a 32-year-old woman at a boom gate and robbed her.
The most recent robbery occurred on 8 October when a man and his wife were accosted by three armed men in balaclavas and robbed of their personal belongings.
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Weilbach advised shopping centres and malls to post additional security personnel at entrances and exits.
She said the SAPS had already launched their festive season operations which entailed the deployment of highly visible, multi-disciplinary law enforcement teams.
“These operations include regular foot patrols in shopping malls and centres, vehicle patrols, roadblocks, cordon and search operations and the tracing of wanted suspects,” said Weilbach.
Atterbury shopping centre spokesperson Zahn Hulme, said it seemed a group of three or four robbers in the east of Pretoria, used different vehicles to follow and rob people with visible, valuable jewellery and expensive cars.
Hulme said in the past five months, four robberies had been reported at The Club, including theft of cash, jewellery and cellphones and one attempted car theft.
During one of the robberies the criminals were arrested by centre security, she said.
Extra security guards had been appointed to patrol the area and security cameras were monitored.
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“We aim to do everything within our power to ensure the safety of visitors to The Club. We work with the SAPS, Fidelity, the appointed security company as well as tactical response units of other security companies to gather intelligence on incidents in the area to promote awareness and act preventatively where possible,” added Hulme.
Ward 82 councillor, Siobhan Muller said communities needed to stand together as crime hit their ward.
She urged residents to join their local CPF to help curb crime.
“Residents are the eyes and ears on the street and can report suspicious activity to the security in a suburb if they are part of a group,” said Muller.
Stephen Wolmarans of Brinant security company said there was also a crew of four men in a white Mercedes Benz C200 new model or a grey Audi A4, who committed various robberies around Pretoria East.
Read the full article in this week’s Rekord east.
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