Three men were arrested in Tembisa, north east of Johannesburg, on Friday in connection with the recent spate of mall robberies in Gauteng, the Hawks said.<\/p>\n
“We arrested three foreign nationals in Tembisa this afternoon,” spokesman Captain Paul Ramaloko said.<\/p>\n
“We are continuing the investigation.”<\/p>\n
Ramaloko said it was hoped more arrests could be made as the Hawks continued their investigation.<\/p>\n
No court date has yet been set.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Gauteng police commissioner Lt-Gen Lesetja Mothiba said malls in the province had been robbed 11 times in the past month.<\/p>\n
“Gauteng is the worst affected province,” Mothiba told reporters in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n
He said there had been isolated incidents in other provinces, but that Gauteng malls had been robbed 11 times since August 13.<\/p>\n
On Monday night, a robbery took place at an Altech Autopage cellphone store at the Glen shopping centre in Oakdene, Johannesburg. Three armed robbers stole 15 cellphones worth R34,000.<\/p>\n
The Samsung, iStore, and Vodacom shops in the mall have all been robbed since November last year.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, a G4S security guard was shot dead when four men robbed him and his colleagues of cash they had collected from the Diepkloof Black Chain shopping centre in Soweto.<\/p>\n
A Samsung shop was robbed at the Cradlestone Mall in Krugersdorp, on the West Rand, on Friday.<\/p>\n
“The robbers made off with cellphones and tablets worth hundreds of thousands of rand,” Mothiba said.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, a Timberland clothing store at the World Wear shopping centre in Fairland, Johannesburg, was robbed. Eight men took all the clothing in the shop and an undisclosed amount of money.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the Telkom Connect shop in the Eastgate shopping centre was robbed of cellphones and an undisclosed amount of cash.<\/p>\n
A cellphone store in the Northgate Mall was robbed last Tuesday. A Telkom Direct store at the Kolonnade shopping centre in Pretoria, was robbed on the same day.<\/p>\n
“This is the second robbery at the [Kolonnade] store in almost two weeks,” Mothiba said.<\/p>\n
Last Monday, a cashbox was stolen from two security guards at a Pick n Pay paypoint in the Maponya Mall, in Soweto.<\/p>\n
Apple iStores were robbed on August 13, 14 and 15 at the Cresta shopping centre, The Glen and Centurion malls respectively.<\/p>\n
Mothiba said 12 malls had been identified as high risk. Police visibility would be increased, with the deployment of Nyalas (armoured vehicles).<\/p>\n
The modus operandi of the robbers was to enter shops posing as customers.<\/p>\n
Mothiba said police suspected all the robberies may have been inside jobs, which was worrying.<\/p>\n
He urged employers to look into their employees’ integrity because it made the police and shop owners’ jobs difficult.<\/p>\n
Robbery at Samsung service partner in Woodmead<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n