IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/inafri/v17y2025i2p163-179.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Criminality at Shopping Malls: A South African Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • N. Lallupersad
  • D. Govender

Abstract

A sharp rise in crimes at shopping malls in KwaZulu-Natal and other provinces around the country has prompted shopping mall owners to keep shopping malls safe. Some of the crimes that shopping malls experience include armed robberies, common robberies, parking lot crimes (theft from motor vehicles), assaults, store holdups, shoplifting and property crimes. Shoppers and retailers at malls are concerned about their safety. Criminals commit crimes for numerous reasons, and the situations are always different. The purpose of this article was to assess the crime risks at these malls so that the malls can be made safe, secure and a pleasant environment for all. The Criminal Opportunity Theory served as the basis for this study. A qualitative case study design was used in this study. One-on-one interviews, observation and criminal case docket analysis were used to collect data. Nine shopping malls, 30 criminal case dockets and 30 participants were purposively sampled, based on specific criteria. The collected data were thematically analysed and interpreted. It was found that there was a great need for both violent and nonviolent crimes to be reduced at shopping malls. The study showed that security measures should be enhanced to deter potential criminals and mitigate the risk of criminal activities.

Suggested Citation

  • N. Lallupersad & D. Govender, 2025. "Criminality at Shopping Malls: A South African Perspective," Insight on Africa, , vol. 17(2), pages 163-179, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:inafri:v:17:y:2025:i:2:p:163-179
    DOI: 10.1177/09750878231221167
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09750878231221167
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/09750878231221167?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:inafri:v:17:y:2025:i:2:p:163-179. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.