CapeGate Shopping centre strongly disputes allegations that car guards at the centre might be involved in the theft of motor vehicles.
“We do not in any way suspect that our car guards are involved in any car theft operations as they are sub-contracted by a reputable company that we have used for several years,” says marketing manager at the centre Zoë Ganz.
One of the security measures in place to counter this, she says, is random polygraph or voice stress tests carried out by a private security company.
According to Ganz less than six cars per year are reported stolen at the shopping centre, out of about two million cars that park at the centre per annum.
“We can report that we have all the necessary security systems in place to try and avoid these types of incidents from happening,” she says.
System not fail-safe
But Martin Williams from Vredekloof, whose bakkie was recently stolen at the centre, says he is not so sure that this system is fail-safe.
He parked his white 2002 Ford Bantam 1600 bakkie at the Pick n Pay entrance.
“There were three car guards watching the block I parked in, and not one of them noticed anything.
“When I got back and saw my car was gone, one of the guards, who carried a radio with him, immediately told me to go look on the other side of the parking lot as if I had forgotten where I had parked,” he told TygerBurger.
Williams says his car was stolen within seconds of him parking and leaving it.
“On the surveillance cameras you can see a white car pulling in next to my bakkie moments after I got out.
“A man gets out, gets into my car and drives it away.
“The theft was well planned and executed as if the thieves were alerted to it.
“I asked the guards, but they insisted they saw absolutely nothing.
“I find this highly unlikely and it just doesn’t make sense.”
To add insult to the injury the police detective from the Stikland vehicle theft unit only showed up seven days later to view the surveillance footage that clearly shows the suspect and part of the registration number of the car that was used for the theft.
“After viewing the footage at the centre’s security room, we immediately phoned the police, who never showed up.
“Where was my car after seven days? Probably out of the country or already chopped up for parts.
“We had all the evidence on camera, immediately available for the detective to follow up on.”
Williams says he is certain that his car would have been recovered and an arrest made, had the police acted fast enough.
“The detective in question simply pointed to the mountain of dockets on his table and told me he had too many cases to investigate,” says Williams.
The case was later closed.
Crime statistics
According to the latest crime statistics, 19 vehicles were reported stolen in Brackenfell between January and March this year.
This number nearly doubled to 37 reported cases in the next quarter from April to June.
But according to Capt Erica Crous, spokesperson for Brackenfell Police Station, CapeGate Shopping centre is not currently a crime hotspot for vehicle theft, with low numbers reported there.
However, theft of motor vehicles have increased over the last two months.
“Vehicles targeted at the moment are the older models VW Polos, Toyota sedans, older Isuzu bakkies, Kia light delivery vehicles and Hyundai H100s,” she says.
“When parking at a shopping mall be on the lookout for remote jamming, which is still very prevalent.
“Lock your doors and check that they are closed before you leave your vehicle.”
