People are demanding a higher security guard presence in and around ATMs in Grahamstown after a spate of ATM robberies and scams in recent weeks.
People are demanding a higher security guard presence in and around ATMs in Grahamstown after a spate of ATM robberies and scams in recent weeks.
In one incident, a man passing by the ATMs at Pepper Grove Mall says he was almost robbed at knife-point on the evening of Tuesday 27 August.
The man who asked to remain anonymous said the robber approached him demanding money. After a verbal altercation, the robber pulled out a knife and threatened the man. Security guards intervened, calling an armed response team and within 10 minutes the assailant was arrested.
The man said mall owner Rob Beer should have more security guards on the premises. “For the entire complex, Beer only has two guards on duty.”
He has not opened a case with the police.
Responding to claims that he needs to employ more guards, Beer said: “We have our own security guards on duty during the day and Hi-Tec at night. We have an excellent record over the past 12 years. It certainly is not necessary to employ more guards.”
Beer said there has only been one robbery in the public area at Pepper Grove in the past five years that he is aware of. “It happened at the ATMs about four months ago,” and he said the perpetrators were swiftly arrested and the whole incident was captured on camera at around 3am.
Radiographer Helen Horne narrowly avoided being robbed at the same shopping centre on 14 August.
“I got to the ATM and I noticed the guy standing behind me and I didn’t look to see if he was a genuine security guard,” she said. “He came behind me and told me there’s a new way of doing your transaction – I didn’t even think anything of it – then he lent over me and started pressing the buttons. “He came again and said ‘now you’ve got to cancel the transaction’ and he grabbed my card and pushed it in and out.”
After drawing money she went to work and phoned her bank immediately to cancel her card.
She returned to Pick n Pay and informed an employee of the incident. Security footage revealed that the unidentified thief was working with another person. “When they showed me the footage, we saw that they actually got there before me and put things into the machines,” Horne said. The thief was wearing black pants, a white long shirt, and a sleeveless jersey.
Delise Moriarty, a secretary at the Rhodes journalism school, was scammed on 9 August at the ABSA Bank ATM in High Street while trying to deposit money. When the machine refused to accept her money, she said a well-dressed man tried to ‘help’ her and in the process saw her code which came up on the screen.
“I didn’t accept help, he was forceful,” said Moriarty, who later discovered R7 000 missing from her account. ABSA has re-paid her R4 000, but so far not the remainder.
“There was no security guard on duty at the ATM, and there hasn’t been for a while,” Moriarty said.
At the time of publishing ABSA had not responded to our request for comment.
