Statement by Dan Plato, Western Cape Minister of Community Safety: SAPS, Security and retail industries action towards safer shopping welcomed
I welcome the swift response to the Western Cape Government’s call for greater cooperation between the relevant role-players to urgently address the recent spate of mall robberies in this province.
With a clear and cooperative strategy involving the South African Police Service (SAPS), private security, and relevant retail industry authorities, retail and mall robberies in this province will come to a quick end.
The onus, however, remains on mall management to ensure quality security services are employed to protect their establishments and their patrons. The information supplied by the SAPS should be used by these establishments to improve any shortcomings in security provision. As part of the working strategy going forward, SAPS should update mall management, business owners and the general public about ongoing developments in these cases.
The announcements made yesterday by the SAPS and Business Against Crime that they will team up with the South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC) in order to address the problem is the kind of urgent action that the people of this province expect when it comes to their safety.
I am confident that through working Better Together, the strategy to ensure the safety of shoppers and malls will be implemented well ahead of the coming festive season and will have a lasting positive impact on safety.
As part of the Western Cape Government’s oversight role over policing in the province, I will continue to monitor the effectiveness of any strategy to keep shoppers in the province safe. I also extend an open invitation to the SAPS, SACSC, retail owners and industry role-players to include the Department of Community Safety so that we can assist where possible.
Safety is everyone’s responsibility and knowledge of what to be on the lookout for is vital in preventing and combatting these types of robberies.
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