Security measures will be tightened in shopping centres across the country, Business against Crime (BAC) said in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Addressing a media conference in Illovo, BAC’s Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane said the prevalence of violent crimes in shopping centres was of serious concern for the government, the business sector and the law-abiding citizens of the country.
She said this led to an establishment of a shopping-centre security initiative, which is a partnership between the South African Council of Shopping Centres, South African Property Owners, the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa and BAC.
”The initiative provides an early warning system, which assists centres identify their immediate risk.”
Irish-Qhobosheane said the BAC was working with the South African Police Service to provide centre managements with information on latest trends regarding violent crime.
”Our focus is more on how to prevent the occurrence of the violent crimes than to deal with them.”
Since the establishment of the initiative late last year, there had been a 30% decrease in violent shopping-centre crimes.
The initiative was initially funded by Liberty Life Properties and Pareto, but since its inception several major property owners and managing companies had participated, Irish-Qhobosheane said. — Sapa