The Laudium CPF’s ‘improper’ involvement in a recent ‘abduction’ has raised the concerns of many residents. This follows a local resident, who lives in a rented flat on Ivory Street, claiming to have been beaten up and forcefully taken out from his car this past Saturday (April 5) morning.
When the Laudium Sun visited the home of the alleged victim, Minhaj Patel, on Ivory Street, to get his comments, we were informed that Minhaj was still traumatised and afraid to see or speak to anyone, including the press. The Laudium Sun then met up with the landlord, Shiraaz Patel who lives at the front part of the property.
Shiraaz told the Laudium Sun, “The incident began on Friday night (April 4) when some police officers from the Laudium Police Station and two Indian men, who I understand were from or representing the owners of A1 Fruit and Veg, in Laudium. They came to my house late at night, at around 10pm, asking for Minhaj Patel. I was shocked because I know Minhaj well, and he is a very obedient guy. I’ve never heard anything bad about him. Therefore, I showed the cops and the Indian men Minhaj’s flat. They went there and then I heard a lot of yelling. Then, the two Indian guys warned Minhaj to stay away from their daughter and claimed they had a protection order from the court for him to stay away from their daughter and the family. They threatened him, saying that if he didn’t stay away from their daughter, bad things would happen to him. After threatening him, they left, and Minhaj went into his flat. The next morning, on Saturday, when I woke up at around 9am, I heard that Minhaj hadn’t arrived at work. Everyone started to panic because he had left for Marabastad at around 6:45am in his Maruti Suzuki Swift car. His mom was crying, and many people began gathering at his place. The situation went viral on social media, with rumours spreading that Minhaj had been kidnapped. The whole day passed with no news about his whereabouts. Then, at around 11pm that night, some Indian men dropped Minhaj off here at his place. Minhaj was in terrible condition. His car’s windshield was smashed and he had clearly been beaten.”
Shiraaz added, “A large group of Minhaj’s friends and family gathered at his house when he arrived late that night and they began asking him what happened and who had kidnapped him. Slowly but surely, Minhaj began to reveal to his friends what had happened. I was told some parts of what had happened by some of his friends and other parts by his mother, who said that Minhaj had alleged that the owners of A1 Fruit and Veg were behind him being ‘abducted’. I was informed that Minhaj said that from the Atteridgeville robot he was driven to an unknown location in Krugersdorp. There he was beaten up badly and was told to leave the daughter of the owner of AI Fruit and Veg alone, or they would kill him next time. Minhaj is in love with their daughter, who lives in Erasmia. The girl’s family does not want their daughter to marry Minhaj, and it is believed that this is the reason why Minhaj was threatened.” Shiraaz also said, “Minhaj and his family planned to vacate the flat where they are currently staying, as Minhaj was in the process of buying a house. This is because he was planning to marry the same girl, the daughter of the owners of A1 Fruit and Veg. However, after this horrible incident that happened with Minhaj, I am unsure whether the marriage between Minhaj and the girl will still happen.”
Anisha Patel, the mother of Minhaj from Ivory Street, Laudium, told the Laudium Sun, “I don’t know how to explain what happened to my son. I am very traumatized and fearful for his safety. I just want peace for my family, and I have asked the people of A1 Fruit and Veg to leave my son alone. I don’t have any further comments other than that; all I want is peace for everyone and for people to leave us alone. If loving someone is a crime, then I’m not sure what kind of world we are living in. My son did nothing wrong, and what these people did to him is not right—one day, Allah will punish them for it.”
Salim Osman, one of the neighbours on Ivory Street, told the Laudium Sun, “I heard about the incident, and it’s really bad for this poor guy Minhaj. I don’t know much about what’s going on, but according to what I read on social media, it’s a love dispute between two families. I hope they can resolve it peacefully without hurting each other. We need love, not war, in our community.”
Surprisingly, the Laudium CPF, some of whose members and Cllr Patel are believed to be close associates of AI Fruiters, issued a contradicting and biased statement on Saturday, while Minhaj was still missing. It is alleged that the CPF was well aware of the incident and in fact seemingly covered up for the perpetrators involved.
Surprisingly, the CPF spokesperson, Mohammed Noor, sent out an ‘official statement’ lambasting posts on social media on this incident, claiming that there were “several inaccurate and misleading social media posts currently circulating regarding an alleged abduction…”
This followed a post first sent out by a local anti-crime activist, who posted on social media, “Man kidnapped on the R55 near Atteridgeville, Pretoria. He was returning home from his business at the Pretoria market.” Although his post was later deleted, many people had already read it and were not aware of the post being later deleted or why it was deleted. There was also a post on the Laudium Sun page which referred to the alleged abduction as a ‘Laila Majnu’ replay. However, the statement by the CPF has since raised a lot of suspicions on their seemingly one sided involvement intended to cover up for the one party, that of the girl’s side from A1 Fruit. The CPF’s sincerity in sending out the statement, more so of the inaccuracies, has also been questioned.
Some of the points raised by some residents are…
1) The CPF claims that a post sent out that there was ‘an alleged abduction’ was misleading. This clearly shows that the CPF does not seem to understand the word ‘alleged.’ This is however understandable as it is believed that some of their members have not even passed matric in South Africa.
2) Furthermore, the CPF must have also believed at the time that a possible kidnapping or abduction or some other crime had taken place, otherwise why then by their own admission, did they go with the police to the alleged crime scene, or as alleged by some, did they go there possibly to cover the tracks of the perpetrators?
3) The CPF claimed in their statement that the windscreen of the Suzuki vehicle was “broken by the towing company in order to access the vehicle” in their presence. Really now, how do you ‘break’ a windscreen fitted in a car? The photo of the car shown on this page, clearly shows a small hole in the windscreen, which we understand was smashed and not ‘broken’. Nevertheless, the question remains why was the windscreen and not the side window smashed to open the car door and who gave the tow truck driver the authority to ‘break’ the windscreen and remove the car back to the house of the owner.
4) The CPF claimed in their report that “after thorough assessment there is currently no evidence to confirm any abduction,” but then say, “The matter is being treated as a missing person case” which “has officially been opened at the Laudium SAPS.” The question then is who did the “thorough assessment” within a few hours and why then was a police case opened for a missing person? Also why was the vehicle of Minhaj allowed to be moved by a private person and why was the move not stopped until the person missing was found and the circumstances of him being missing, properly established. Why was the evidence which is the car not taken to the police compound for further investigation? Alternatively, if it was known to the CPF that Minhaj as an adult and of sound mind, had merely gone into hiding on his own free will, then why was a missing person case opened at the SAPS, as no crime was committed? Why waste the resources of the police?
The Laudium CPF has seemingly once more acted in bad faith by sending out the “official statement” and their involvement in this matter remains questionable. *When asked to comment on the allegations made against him or his family, Salim Patel of A1 Fruit and Veg said he has no comment.