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THERE has been a spate of robberies on businesses in the grea?ter Grassy Park area over the past few weeks.

Businesses that have been opera?ting in the area for a number of years are concerned about their safety. Police claim it is too early to say whether there has been an increase in business robberies.

Busy Corner in Victoria Road has been operating for more than 20 years, and up until Wednesday 28 May, has never seen a robbery. But three men entered the premises just before closing time on the day and took off with a sum of money after pointing a firearm at one of the staff members.

KFC, also in Victoria Road, was robbed on Saturday 31 May at about 21:45, also just before closing time. Two armed men apparently entered the premises, threatened the ma?nager, and took money from the till.

Roomaney's Hardware in Fifth Avenue in Grassy Park was hit for the second time in their 50 years of being in business on Monday 16 June - just before closing time.

According to management, two robbers walked in and a staff member pushed the silent panic button before running away. Another staff member led one of the men to the till.

Apparently, the siren alarm was pressed. The suspects ran off empty-handed.

Inspector Stephen Knapp, communications officer at the Grassy Park Police Station, says that robberies on business premises have not gone unnoticed - but despite the similarities between the various robberies, Knapp says that he cannot confirm or deny that a syndicate is operating.

"We cannot speculate at this stage," he says. He adds that even though police are planning to beef up visibility, he does not believe that alarm bells should ring just yet: "There has not been a large number of business robberies in the area".

Knapp explains that Senior Superintendent Johan Marais, station commissioner of the Grassy Park police, has instructed his crime intelligence unit to update a profile of businesses in the area.

"We would like to encourage all businesses to be proactive by improving their security measures.

"A good example of this would be to install CCTV cameras," says Knapp.

All residents and businesses in the Grassy Park sector are invited to attend an anti-crime community meeting, which will be held today, Tuesday, 24 June from 19:00 at the Grassy Park Civic Centre.

For more information about the meeting, phone the Grassy Park Police Station on (021) 700-3900.

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