Whilst more and more streets in Laudium and Erasmia are being closed off with security gates, restricting access into these areas especially at night, to curb crime, thieves are seemingly becoming desperate to get into these areas.
Although crime in the gated areas has seemingly come down, there seems to be a new attack lately by thieves, who have managed to get into a few homes despite the street security gates. Also, the guards stationed at a few of the gates that are manually operated at night for residents to have access, have also become targets of criminals. In one of the latest incidents, a guard stationed at a Himalaya Street gate post in Laudium was robbed by three armed thugs, who stole his cellphone and the little money he had in his pocket, before fleeing into the darkness of the night. The robbery which took place this past Monday night (Nov 18) has not only left the guard traumatized, but has now caused panic amongst other guards working in the area and also amongst residents living within the gated streets. Calls have now been made for the guards to be properly equipped, including arming them with firearms and giving each guard a panic button. When the Laudium Sun visited the crime scene the following day on Tuesday, in order to get a comment from the guard, the 34 year old guard, Vusimusi Zunga, who works for Khans Tactical was not on duty. However his colleague, Kemp Poowe who was stationed at the Himalaya Street gate told the Laudium Sun, “When I arrived this morning (Tuesday) for duty, my colleague Vusimusi told me that while he was on night duty at this gate, he was attacked and robbed by three black males who came from the hill area, which divides Atteridgeville and Laudium. He told me that the three guys rushed him and when he tried to fight them, the one guy pointed a firearm at him and threatened to shoot him if he did not stand still. Fearing for his life he then stood still but then the other two guys started beating him up and searched his pockets, where they found his cellphone and a R100 note which they then stole and ran away.” Kemp added, “My colleague who resides in the Itireleng informal settlement was attacked for no reason by these three thugs while he was on duty, protecting the community. His shift started at six clock in the evening and these criminals attacked and robbed him at about 8 o clock in the evening. As security guards, we are working to protect the residents of Himalaya Street from these criminals, but now these criminals are targeting us as security guards. Our supervisor is aware of this incident. I just hope that we can be more protected from these criminals. We all should have firearms or at least some kind of an alarm button that we could press if we are attacked. These criminals are terrorizing the residents of Himalaya Street, especially those who live near the Hill. My colleague did not open a case against the thugs, as he believes that the police will not do anything to catch them. The police have to patrol these areas and check on us especially at night, as crime is still high in Laudium,” Poowe said.
Resident Malibongwe Jimolongwe (23) of Lucknow Street told the Laudium Sun, “The criminals coming from Atteridgeville using the Hill to get to Laudium, have been terrorizing us. They have been robbing residents in the area and have been stealing from us. Not long back the thieves stole a television from our home. We are lucky since the gate and wall have been put up, leading to the Hill, as crime has decreased, but I cannot understand how thieves are still managing to get into our area. Maybe the loopholes that these criminals are using must be looked at by the community.”
*Attempts to get hold of supervisor Mohamed Khan of Khan’s Tactical, for comment, were unsuccessful.
