Leadership in government, locally residents in Laudium and Erasmia are also living in fear and having sleepless nights, due to the ongoing crime.
In one of the recent crimes reported to the Laudium Sun for stats purposes, a business on Erasmia’s main M26 road was attacked by armed thugs wearing police uniforms. While it is unknown at this stage, whether the armed thugs were actual police officials or bogus cops, the robbery has once more raised the red flag as to whether motorists travelling on roads can trust and should stop, when ordered by those in police uniform or in blue-light flashing cars, as rogue and bogus cops on the roads are increasingly attacking motorists. In the recent attack by a gang wearing police uniforms, four armed thugs attacked the ‘M26 Hardware’ in Mooiplaas, just past the main Eramia residential area, last Friday morning (May 9) at around 11:30am. The gang held the shop owner at gunpoint and robbed him of cash and his cellphone, a Samsung Note 10.
3 brazen thugs dressed in police uniform.
Sami Ullah, the owner of ‘M26 Hardware,’ told the Laudium Sun, “It was a normal day for us. I was alone at the shop and sitting outside in the sun. I noticed four men dressed in SAPS uniforms arrive in a white Suzuki Ertiga. They parked the car outside my shop. Three of them, all dressed in police uniform, approached me, while the fourth remained in the driver’s seat. The three told me that they were conducting a routine check and asked me to go inside. I panicked and became suspicious of them, because they did not arrive in an officially marked police vehicle, but then I thought they may have been using one of the vehicles of the police detectives, which are not marked. So I gave them the benefit of the doubt and took them inside my shop. Once inside the shop, all of a sudden, all three of these ‘cops’ pulled out guns and took me into my office. Two of them pointed their weapons at me and threatened to kill me if I did not hand over all my money. I was terrified—I was alone and it was still early in the morning, so there hadn’t been much business yet. I pleaded with them, who I then thought were not real cops, not to harm me and took the cash I had of the business and handed it over to them. After taking the cash, they grabbed my brand-new cell phone, a Samsung Note 10 and immediately ran into their waiting car. I’m still really traumatised by what happened—it was truly horrible and frightening. Crime in this country and especially in our Mooiplaas area, is out of control. I urge the Erasmia Police Station to take strong action, especially againstcriminals pretending to be police officers. We cannot trust the real police officers as it has become difficult for us to know who is real and who is fake. We need more visible police patrols in this area, especially during the daytime, as it is often very quiet, making us easy targets. The crime rate here is unacceptably high.”
Feroz Lambat, another Mooiplaas shop owner, told the Laudium Sun, “The attack on Sami was really terrible, especially as these thugs were wearing police uniforms. Mooiplaas is very quiet and that makes it an easy target for criminals—especially during the day. Thugs see it as an opportunity to prey on us. We desperately need more visible police patrols in this area. As of now, I haven’t seen any police vehicles patrolling during the day or night. It’s
becoming harder and harder to run a business here. Whatever we earn, the criminals just take away. Honestly, the crime rate in Erasmia and surrounding areas is way too high. If we want to build a better and safer society, we must first improve our safety and security.”
Mooiplaas resident, Aslam Khan, told the Laudium Sun, “The crime in Mooiplaas is really out of control. We urgently need more police presence and regular patrols in our area. Criminals are no longer afraid—they boldly pull out guns and rob us in broad daylight. It feels like the police have completely neglected this area. We need better safety and security so that we can live here peacefully.”
Erasmia CPF Chairperson, Pritesh Bhana, told the Laudium Sun, “I am not aware of the robbery as no one told me about it.”