Police continue to investigate two separate false bomb threats made last week in Somerset West – one at Somerset Mall (on Tuesday 12 November) and the other at the Somerset Value Centre (on Wednesday 13 November), which resulted in mass evacuations and severe loss of business.
In both incidents, the threats were found in the bathrooms. At the Mall, a handwritten message was found against the bathroom tiles, whilst at the Value Centre a paper note was discovered.
“Making a false bomb threat is a violation of the Explosion Act 15 of 2003, which makes it a crime to endanger life or property,” warned Suzan Jantjies, spokesperson for the Somerset West police.
Although police have not ruled out a link to the two incidents, they stated that at this point of the investigation it couldn’t be established whether they are related.
The Mall incident was reported at 11:45 upon which police were informed and the mall was evacuated. The K9 and Bomb Disposal Unit swept the Mall and at 13:16 the Mall was declared safe.
During the evacuation at the Mall, dozens of people expressed frustration at the apparent chaos and pandemonium which followed.
The manager of a store, who asked not to be named, said he saw various individuals carry items out of a shop without paying.
“I saw two people who were standing in queue at the tills when the alarms went off and the evacuation began. They simply walked out with the items in their hands and didn’t pay. There was definitely an element of theft during the evacuation,” he said.
Another tenant, an eatery, also shared sentiments that patrons enjoying a meal were suddenly evacuated but only a handful returned to pay their bill.
Somerset Mall management were invited to comment on security measures at the mall during evacuations but declined to do so.
“Please refer to the published statements on our social platforms; there are no further comments,” management stated.
In the earlier statement, the Mall confirmed that Fidelity Security in conjunction with the South Africa Police Services (Saps) responded to the bomb threat.
“Relevant authorities swept the Mall, and no threats were found. No injuries were sustained during this situation”.
A shopper at the Mall, Alida Muller, said that she was having lunch with a friend when the alarms went off and they had to evacuate.
“My vehicle was parked at the undercover parking and I could not get to my car at first,’ she said, and added that a while later she was eventually allowed to fetch it. But many people were unable to leave the mall precinct as similarly they were not allowed to get to their vehicles in the parking lot.
The very next day (Wednesday), a bomb threat was called in at Somerset Value Centre, a shopping centre outside the Mall, at 08:30.
Police at first told the DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette that it was a routine training exercise, but later retracted that statement and confirmed that the threat was real, and eventually also found to be false.
“This is an ongoing police investigation and we are sure that the police are doing everything in their power to resolve this matter, but no further information has been made available to us in this regard,” said Leon Gray, spokesperson for the Value Centre.
“We have an evacuation plan in place, and we thank everyone for following protocol during the threat. In these situations, there is bound to be confusion, but we are thankful that everyone responded to the evacuation [plan] and that nobody was hurt or injured,” he said.
“We would like to thank the shoppers for their patience and understanding.” . Somerset West police are calling on anyone with information to contact the station on 021 850 1325.
