While residents of Laudium and Erasmia are seemingly still represented by an incompetent CPF leadership, who do not fully understand what their role is, concerning the supposed partnership between the police and the community, residents continue having sleepless nights, because of the ongoing crime in the area.
The CPF leadership, many of whom are active members of the ANC and have been spending much time supporting ANC Cllr Naeem Patel in his recent campaign to be nominated to stand for another term as Councillor for the ANC, are seen by many residents as being mere ‘glorified car guards’. Besides being meant to monitor and evaluate services rendered to the community by the local police, the CPF is supposed to establish a partnership between the police and all sectors of the communities they serve, to ensure effective protection for all. But clearly the Laudium and Erasmia CPFs, which seem to be under the ‘spell’ of Cllr Patel, are not carrying out their mandate, as those sectors which do not support the ANC or do not show allegiance to Patel, are shunned by the CPFs, resulting in the gap between the community and the police widening.
This follows yet another week with more incidents of crime having been reported to the Laudium Sun by residents, for stats purposes. In one of the latest of such incidents, four Black armed thugs drove into the residential area of Erasmia in a grey BMW X5 this past Sunday (July 26) afternoon and parked in front of a house on Peter Street, Erasmia, which is occupied by different tenants. Despite it being a Sunday afternoon, with the streets busier, the thugs were clearly not bothered. While the driver of the BMW and another thug remained in the BMW, the other two thugs lifted the front gate of the property, attacked one of the tenants of the house, tied him up, assaulted him and then stole an amount of cash, a laptop and a cellphone.
Lushen Padayachi, one of the tenants of the Peter Street house, told the Laudium Sun, “I was not at home at the time of the robbery, but one of my neighbours informed me about it. My understanding is that were four Black robbers who came in a BMW at around 1:30pm. They parked their vehicle in front of our house and two of them, who were armed, lifted the front gate to gain access to the property. The two then forced open the front gate and gained entry by breaking the front door of the house. At that time, there was only one tenant in the front part of the house, who was sitting in the living room. As soon as he saw the robbers entering, he immediately shouted and questioned why they were in the house. The robbers then took out a firearm and started assaulting him. They tied him up to a chair and demanded that he hand over everything he had. They went on to steal his cash, a cellphone and his laptop. It was very disturbing to hear how they beat him up and threatened to shoot him, especially knowing that he was alone and defenceless at the time. What makes it even worse is that this all happened on a Sunday afternoon in broad daylight, which shows how brazen these criminals have become. One of the neighbours from next door noticed that something was not right at the house and quickly contacted ADT Security. When the security patroller arrived, he spoke something to the two thugs in the BMW, resulting in the BMW immediately driving off, while the other two thugs who were inside the house ran away from the back of the property. Thankfully, the situation did not become worse, but the harm had already been done. This has been a really bad experience for all of us, especially since we share the same yard. I felt extremely worried and shaken after hearing everything that took place. Crime in Erasmia is definitely getting out of control. It is affecting all of us residents, as we now live in constant fear. There is a serious lack of visible policing and community patrollers in the area. We hardly see any police patrols and it feels like we are left on our own to deal with these criminal situations. More needs to be done to protect the community and to ensure that residents can feel safe in their own homes. These criminals do not have any fear of being caught and are thus becoming more daring.”
Pranesh Naidoo, also of Peter Street, told the Laudium Sun, “I witnessed the robbery unfolding right in front of me. It was a terrifying situation because the thugs were armed and seemed very dangerous. At that moment my main concern was my own safety and the safety of those around me. I could not go closer or try to intervene, because these thugs were armed and I did not want a shootout to start as it would have only made the situation worse. I stood at a distance and observed what was happening, feeling helpless but also knowing that rushing in would not have changed the outcome except putting more lives at risk. As soon as we realised what was happening, we immediately contacted the ADT security company who responded very quickly. When the security vehicle arrived, the patroller said something to the thugs in the BMW and the pair of thugs then immediately drove off in the BMW. The other two thugs who were in the house then ran away from the back of the property. Everything happened very quickly, but the trauma that we, as residents, went through will remain forever on our minds. It is very worrying to see how these criminals operate with such confidence, knowing that they are armed and that residents are at their mercy. Living in this area has become increasingly stressful because incidents like these are no longer rare and many of us are constantly on edge. We are trying our best as a community to stay alert and to look out for each other, but there is only so much we can do without proper support from the police and the CPF. Situations like this show clearly that more needs to be done to protect residents, especially in areas where these types of crimes are happening more frequently.”
Farukh Tahir, a resident at the corner of Peter and Fortuna Streets, told the Laudium Sun, “After the robbery took place, one of the thugs who escaped from the back of the house on Peter Street, jumped into our yard. The CCTV footage, which the Laudium Sun posted on social media, showed one of the thugs in our yard. We desperately need stronger police presence in our area, because relying only on private security is not enough to control the crime situation in the long term. There must be proper police visibility, whether it is through regular patrols or even setting up police checkpoints in certain areas, where crime seems to be high. If police can be deployed strategically on different streets, it will not only help in responding faster to such incidents, but will also act as a deterrent to criminals who think they can come into our area and act without consequences. If nothing changes, the fear among residents will only grow and criminals will continue to take advantage of the situation. We need action now, from our police, the CPF and our Councillor before things get worse, because at the moment it seems like crime is getting out of control and as residents, we are the ones who are left vulnerable. Something needs to be done urgently to restore a sense of safety and security in our neighbourhood.”
