Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa March 2014 | Page 38

MANAGING

BY AMANDA STOPS

All systems go!

What to do in the case of a bomb threat in a shopping centre

W

e don’t even think about how
integrated shopping at malls has
become for us as a society, but it has.
They have become the one-stop-shop where we
can get our food shopping done for the month,
go for coffee, go to the bank, courier parcels
to far off places, watch movies, go clothes
shopping, upgrade our cell phone contracts and
so much more.

attacks on a shopping mall, is the threat of a
bomb about to go off... or not.

We naturally assume that to step into a mall
means that we are safe but that isn’t always the
case. From the second one leaves the car in the
parking lot, one is immediately vulnerable. The
parking lot of a mall becomes a no-man’s land
where anything is possible. From car jackings,
kidnappings, stabbings, bag theft and sexual
harassment. We think that upon entering the
mall, we are safest. And this should be the case,
but at times unfortunately it isn’t so.

This threat area has taken on relevance and
is increasingly prevalent today for a number of
reasons including:
• Tremendous advances of technolog y in
the area of explosives and devices with the
development and mass production of advanced
electronics, plastics, and explosive materials.
• Materials necessary to construct a very
powerful device are readily available from a
wide variety of common sources.
• Within our right to the freedom of speech can
be found all the information that is required to
take this technology, and materials, and build
an operational explosive device.
• Increased availability of information via
“underground” publications and the Internet.

Last year’s terrorist attack on Kenyan mall,
Westgate in Nairobi, seemed so unreal that it
may as well have been a scene from a Hollywood
film, but regardless of where it was set the threat
was real and sent a ripple of shock across the
world and should have been a warning to other
commercial property owners to double check on
all their security levels. One of the most fearful
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March 2014 SA Real Estate Investor

According to the South African Council
of Shopping Centres website, “Potential
bombing incidents constitute a serious threat
to employees, customers, assets, operations
and facilities whether the motive is found in
extortion, assault or an act of terror.”

• With the exposure and media promotion
of bombing events also lead to the need for
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potentially unstable individuals to express
themselves in a “copycat” fashion. It is now
possible for just about anyone to construct a
sophisticated explosive or incendiary device,
which is extremely powerful, difficult to detect
and disarm, and small enough to be easily
carried and concealed. Following an event,
the investigation and successful prosecution
of bombers is very diff icult as the modern
weapon literally destroys most of the physical
evidence that was often left by the older and
more primitive devices. Without the assurance
of a quick and effective investigation and
prosecution, much of the deterrent value of
the criminal justice system is lost. The bomb
threat of today has credibility and should not
be taken lightly as no one is immune to these
kinds of acts.

Motives Behind Bomb Threats
The two main reasons for a bomb threat could
be:
A) Someone knows about the bomb and wants
to minimise injury, thus a warning is issued.
B) To create confusion and panic because they
are:
• A disgruntled employee or someone that has
recently been dismissed.
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