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Armed attacks on stores fall
Security focus convinces criminals to avoid big chains
June 3, 2010
By Florence de Vries
The number of armed robbery incidents aimed at members of the Consumer Goods Council of SA (CGCSA), which include Massmart and Pick n Pay, had declined substantially to 14 a month since November last year - a 44 percent drop from an average of 25 a month, the industry body said yesterday.
However, Metcash spokesman Frans Kotze said yesterday that there had not been a marked decline in armed robberies at Metcash stores.
Metcash owns and operates convenience chain Friendly Grocer, as well as Cash and Carry and Trade Centre.
Kotze said the group had experienced "an increase in armed robberies in the past year" but he could not disclose how many robberies had taken place in the year to April.
Michael Broughton, the director of the CGCSA's crime prevention programme, said there had been a marked shift in crime toward "smaller independent businesses" as these had not necessarily taken the same precautions that larger retailers had.
Broughton could not disclose the number of armed robberies of its member, Metcash, as these were confidential.
"The avenue is there for the group to engage in the programme and to become part of our crime combating forums," he said.
Graham Rebello, Massmart's channel executive, said the wholesale giant had experienced a decline of 67 percent in the number of robbery incidents in the year to April.
"Last year we had three incidents amounting to losses of R1.9 million for the group but this year, we've only had one attempted robbery," he said.
According to Rebello, the reason for the decline is primarily because of an increased security focus at store level.
The CGCSA reported that financial losses suffered relating to the robberies in April amounted to R391 993, a significant decrease of 89 percent when compared with the R3.53m loss in April last year, which indicates an average loss of R28 000 per robbery.
Broughton said following a rise in crime during June, July and August last year, retail crime statistics had remained steady since December and were continuing to decrease gradually.
Pick n Pay spokeswoman Tamra Veley said the retailer had experienced a significant decrease in the number of robberies in the past year and concurred with the CGCSA that this was largely because of the improved response of the police and the number of arrests made.
Broughton said that the CGCSA was focusing on a range of measures to make members' stores less attractive to robbers.
"This has paid dividends in that not only have the number of incidents decreased, but the average financial loss per incident has dropped dramatically," he said.
However, burglary incidents reported increased during the month of April. Burglary reports by CGCSA members increased by 37 percent to 37 in April this year from 27 in the same month last year.
Financially this resulted in losses amounting to R1.9m, up from R1.1m last year.
Broughton said the SA Police Force had formed a partnership with the CGCSA and its members to tackle crime-related issues within the retail industry and develop strategies to reduce crime levels going forward.
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