Unemployed young men, local police officers and self-employed mechanics have banded together in Pretoria to stand guard around their shopping malls amid threats of being targeted by looters.
Mnandi Shopping Centre, Altyn Mall and Nkomo Village shopping complexes in Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria, remained open for trading on Wednesday after locals decided that they would “protect” the malls against any looting.
The groups of locals take turns assisting security companies tasked with ensuring the malls are not attacked for 24 hours. They man entrances and carefully scan everyone making their way into the local malls.
Kasi Brothers, a group of about 80 members which was started in January to promote peace and co-operation among men in the area, has stood guard at the Nkomo Village Mall since Tuesday amid scenes of mayhem and looting around Gauteng.
The group is made up of unemployed youth, mechanics, police, army members and taxi drivers.
There were attempts to loot Nkomo Village on Monday night after two stores were stormed and damaged.
Peter Maganedisa, spokesperson for Kasi Brothers, said they have decided to be part of the solution and not the problem.
Maganedisa said they came together after catching wind of information on Monday that their malls were being targeted by people who wanted to cause damage and loot in the area. He said they are doing this to defend their township and the mall that makes life easier for locals who don't have to travel long distances to do shopping.
Clifford Matileng, another member and taxi owner, said they were expecting no payment. “We didn't come to this mall to make money from protecting it, we are here to protect our own,” Matileng said.
Locals have already embraced the work of the group.
Paul Motloung, a community member, volunteered to donate coffee, especially to a group that will be guarding the mall overnight. “We just came together as a community and we are offering to donate coffee just to cheer the guys up for the free service which we are all benefiting from,” Motloung said.
Nkomo Village centre manager Lebogang Mofokeng said several shops have offered to donate food and refreshments to the group so that they don't work on empty stomachs.
“They're doing a great job. I wish other community members see what they're doing so that they could be many of them doing this,” Mofokeng said.
In another part of the township, two other malls, Altyn Mall and Mnandi Mall, are also guarded by a group of local men who are largely unemployed. They call themselves the Deep Six Community Forum.
Ronnie Nkosi, a member of the forum, said they were more than 200 in number and have vowed to ensure that their malls were protected from any looters. “We know that people travel to other areas to instigate the looting, so we've decided that we will not allow that in our township,” Nkosi said.
Nkosi said the two malls provided jobs to many locals and protecting them meant protecting livelihoods in the community.
Another member of the forum, Patrick Machete, said as police were too overstretched to be everywhere to prevent looting, it's their responsibility as locals to protect their malls and ensure that they continue to trade.
“I have my whistle ... should something happen we will blow our whistles and get the backup we need,” Machete said.
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