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As of Tuesday, 15 November 2022, Newcastillians can expect increased security measures at the town’s local mall.
Over the past while, concerns surrounding shopper safety at Newcastle Mall have been a cause of concern, following a spout of armed robberies.
On 24 May 2022, a group of armed men stormed inside a store, robbing it of cellphones and laptops.
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Prior to this, in February 2022, a group targeted Edgars. The highly organised perpetrators strategically placed their team members outside the shopping facility and main entrance.
They then proceeded to hit out the front doors of Edgars, before gaining access to the shop, filling up various bags with goods, before escaping.
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Then there was the robbery in November 2021, where armed suspects robbed Incredible Connection of R300 000 worth of stock in broad daylight.
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While no further armed robberies have been reported since May 2022, the Newcastle Mall is taking proactive steps to minimise crime within its premises.
According to the Mall, in an ongoing effort to improve the safety of its tenants and shoppers, the entity has upgraded its boom gates to a ticketing system.
“Anyone entering the mall from 15 November 2022, will receive a ticket at the boom gate; the same ticket is, then, required to exit the mall,” explained the Newcastle Mall.
The Mall added that should the ticket be lost or damaged beyond use, the ticket holder will be required to contact the control room on 034 32 61120 for further assistance, where their Driver’s License will need to be produced as a primary authentication to exit the mall.
Adding to this, Newcastle Mall’s General Manager Hester Malan pointed out that there will be no fee linked to the ticket system for shoppers and the system will be a permanent fixture from the allotted date.
With the Newcastle Mall now implementing a ticket system, do you feel this will deter criminals?
Share your views in the comment section below.
2 Responses
All this security is great but a huge concern is still the taxis entering the mall and causing Havoc along the main arteries in the parking lot. Taxis need to be banned from entering as they already have a little parking area on the outside. Robbers could hold up shops and enter a taxi, guaranteed they won’t be found
I was at the mall today and the gates dont work