Ninety-eight people have been arrested for mall robberies around the country, police commissioner Bheki Cele said on Thursday.

"[W]e vowed that these deviant acts are deplorable and had to be dealt with accordingly," Cele said in a statement.

Police were also following "promising leads".

Stores at several shopping malls across the country, but mainly in Gauteng, were recently robbed.

"Through hard work and meticulously planned operations of the police, the threat of robberies in question have been dealt a blow from continuing unabated."

As part of "proactive planning" detectives were put on high alert in provinces that had not yet been affected by mall robberies. There had also been more police patrols at malls that could be potential targets and "scores" of suspected robbers had been caught.

"These successes can be attributed to active involvement of the general public, including the business community. The police will remain vigilant for as long as the threat exists", Cele said.

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