There was much curiosity amongst shoppers and businesses in the Laudium CBD as a number of emergency vehicles with sirens blaring raced down Tangerine Street last Friday (Oct 25), shortly after lunch time.
As the emergency vehicles stopped outside the Laudium Square mini shopping centre, a large crowd of onlookers gathered. Amongst the crowd were clients of Absa Bank and staff of the bank who all seemed perturbed. It was then discovered that the bank was closed due to a gas leak in the branch, which posed a possible life threatening situation. Employees of the bank were thus ordered to immediately leave their work stations following the gas leak which was discovered at around 1pm. The employees stood almost in disbelief as a supposedly ordinary day at work turned out to be a near death experience, leaving most of them too rattled to talk to the Laudium Sun.
At the same time, Absa Bank clients who needed access to the bank on one of the busiest days of the month, being the last Friday of the month, were requested to stand away from the bank area, which was barricaded with red -danger tape from 1pm.
Clients were not even allowed to use the ATM outside the bank, and were not told when the bank would re-open again. Clearly the clients seemed frustrated not knowing what was happening, more so as many had to do urgent transactions after being paid and before the start of the weekend, as time was ticking away going nearer to the closing time of the bank, being 3:30pm. There was no communication made to the bank clients waiting outside, other than being told to use alternative branches, which left the loyal Absa clients guessing as to what was actually happening inside the bank.
The security personnel were ensuring that nobody entered the bank, not even just outside it. A female security guard posted at the Absa branch in Laudium, Xichavho Chavhalala who works for Eden Security, told the Laudium Sun, “Whilst I was inside the bank on duty, I just heard a sound like something bursting and choked from a smell of gas. That is when I saw the bank employees making an exit and I followed suit.” Her face flustered, as she continued to ensure that nobody went beyond the red barricading tape. Many of the bank’s clients left after waiting for a while without getting any proper feedback and at the same time other clients of the bank arrived, looking surprised after learning that the bank was closed. Members of the Fidelity Services Group Security were visible on site, although they refused to give a comment on the matter.
When approached by the Laudium Sun for a comment, the Laudium Branch Manager of Absa, Bert Corna rudely said, “There is no story. It was simply a maintenance issue. For further enquiries, contact our media personnel”. When asked why would the bank carry out maintenance work on a Friday afternoon during banking hours and more so on the last Friday of the month, when so many people get paid and need to do their banking, the rude Bert did not respond. The Laudium Sun then contacted the number for the media personnel that Bert gave (011 350 4000) and a certain Martha Seko from the Johannesburg office who answered the switchboard said that an email should be sent, which was the only means of communication with their media liaison person. The Laudium Sun emailed them just for clarification on the matter, but no response has been received at the time of going to press. It seems that Absa does not believe that their clients or the community should know why exactly the bank was closed on a busy afternoon and more so were the lives of the staff, clients, the nearby businesses or the general members of the community who were in the vicinity, at any risk. For now, it is up to the community to make up their own minds.
