While passersby and shoppers may have been shocked to see an emergency-response vehicle stationed outside Eikestad Mall in Stellenbosch on Tuesday morning (10 May), the “incident” is nothing to be alarmed about. Centre management issued a statement confirming a mandatory evacuation drill was carried out at the centre, as part of standard safety procedures and as a key requirement of the Occupational Health & Safety Act. “The safety of our customers, tenants, staff and the general public are of the utmost importance, and today’s (Tuesday) evacuation drill was standard procedure and no cause for alarm,” said André Williams, general manager at Eikestad Mall. “The evacuation drill was conducted effectively and all processes were appropriately followed. Thank you to our clients and partners responsible for carrying out the drill, which included the fire department, Stellenbosch police, emergency services, Law Enforcement, Disaster Risk Management, Fidelity Security and ER24, for ensuring the exercise was a success.” Evacuation procedures are carried out at the shopping centre regularly, to ensure the highest standards of operational safety and crisis preparedness. Following the drill, trading continued as normal.
