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- Eyewitnesses said thousands of people looted Mams Mall on Monday night.
- Private security and police were effectively overpowered and could not prevent the criminality.
- Dozens of shops were completely cleaned out.
Thousands of looters descended onto Mams Mall on Monday night, outnumbering and overpowering police and private security who watched helplessly as dozens of shops were cleaned out.
The widespread looting and destruction of property that has been witnessed in KwaZulu-Natal, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, spilt over into Tshwane on Monday evening.
Mams Mall in Mamelodi was gutted during the evening. By Tuesday morning, the mall resembled a waste landscape as shop owners and employees tried to make sense of what happened.
Liquor bottles, clothing, rubber bullets and live ammunition cartridges were strewn across the parking lot.
Thousands of looters
Several security guards stationed at the mall told News24 that thousands of people looted the centre.
One security guard, who asked to remain anonymous, said the mall was entirely overrun and that police and private security were overpowered.
"Police were even running away. There was nothing we could do," he said.
Another security guard explained that as the numbers of looters grew, police and security became powerless and stood idly by as the shops were looted.
He added that police had initially tried to disperse the crowds with rubber bullets, but officers kept running out of ammunition.
Other guards, as well as a store owner that was present, also confirmed that police had tried to disperse the crowds, but later left as the number of looters grew exponentially.
"This country has no law. Shops were looted within minutes," a shop owner said.
News24 observed that multiple shops were looted, including liquor, clothing, cellular and tech stores.
Banks and ATMs were also broken into.
Looting attempts continue
On Tuesday morning, the mall was guarded by security guards while a small contingent of police and metro officers patrolled the area.
Law enforcement also used rubber bullets to disperse small groups of people attempting to loot the mall.
