Mall gangs hit again

Restaurant owner pistol-whipped in latest robbery

ANOTHER Gauteng mall has been targeted by armed robbers and there are fears that the syndicates will infiltrate other provinces.

A restaurant at the Core shopping centre, in Sunninghill, northern Johannesburg, was robbed on Saturday night. Robbers made off with an undisclosed amount of cash and terrorised restaurant owner Karen Dodkins and about 30 of her customers.

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Safety and security ministry spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi yesterday said that the robbers, who have been targeting Gauteng shopping malls for the past two weeks, have been identified as members of a syndicate that could operate anywhere in the country.

Alarming figures from the Consumer Goods Council have shown that 25 malls were targeted last month alone. An urgent crime indaba takes place today, at which the council will discuss a report about the surge in mall robberies.

The robbery at Grumpy’s Pub and Grill on Saturday night brings the total to 26. Customers were left traumatised after robbers made off with cellphones and an undisclosed amount of cash. Dodkins was pistol- whipped.

President Jacob Zuma and high- ranking police have spoken out about the mall robberies.

Malaudzi said: “We have not focused only on Gauteng. Police and other departments are on high alert in other provinces and are ready to deal with these robbers. We will get them,” he said.

Frank Dodkins said his former wife, Karen, was traumatised after four robbers armed with pistols and knives entered the restaurant after 11pm. “They took Karen to the cash registers and pistol-whipped her, demanding money. Once they got the money, they forced her to show them the safe, which she did, before they fled on foot,” he said.

In the past two weeks, three people have been killed and eight wounded in a surge of shopping-centre robberies in Gauteng. Last month, robberies were reported at 25 shopping malls around the country, according to the Consumer Goods Council of SA. On Tuesday, a guard was shot dead and another seriously wounded by armed robbers at the Trade Route Mall, in Lenasia. Two suspects were arrested on Friday.