The grass is certainly not green in Laudium when it comes to peace and tranquillity, as crime continues to plague the area.
While the Laudium CPF’s head, Zahid ul-Zama and other exco members seem to be more focused on promoting the ANC and Cllr Naeem Patel, with many of them even cozying up to Acting Police Minister, Firoz Cachalia, during breakfast, residents and even service providers continue to be attacked in the area.
This is what a garden service company found out while working at a client’s house on the gated Himalaya Street in Laudium Ext 3 area, this past Tuesday morning (August 4) at around 11am.
This follows a thief attacking the owner of ‘SR Green Vision Gardening Services’ of Erasmia’s Hoekplaas, Erika Claasen, while she was working at a client’s house, with the thief picking up a stone and threatening to kill her, forcing her to go on her knees and plead for mercy. Seemingly disturbed by a passing vehicle, the thief then ran away, but not before snatching Erika’s cellphone. The audacious thief then made a return to the gated area, when
some residents spotted and chased after him, managing to catch him and retrieve Erika’s phone, after which he was handed over to the police. However, the police said that they needed to take the thief to hospital for treatment as he had sustained injuries.
Erika told the Laudium Sun, soon after the attack, “What started as a routine first visit to a new client quickly turned into a frightening ordeal in Laudium. Today was our first time servicing the property on Himalaya Street. My team was inside preparing the equipment while I was outside raking the area before they started cutting the grass, just to make sure there were no stones. That’s when I noticed two thieves running up and down the street, attacking a white Isuzu bakkie. Moments later, one of the thieves ran in the opposite direction while the other came towards my side and suddenly attacked me. I was forced onto my knees and he threatened me, saying he was going to kill me. He picked up a stone as if he wanted to hit me with it. It was terrifying. Then, just as suddenly as it started, he ran off, taking my cellphone. I was shouting for help, trying to get inside, but the gate didn’t open immediately and I was left alone outside during those moments. I immediately told my team to stop work, load the equipment and leave. As we were loading up the trailer, we spotted the same thief, chased by some residents who managed to catch him. As I drove down the road, I came across a police vehicle and stopped them, urging them to go up the street because there was a man attacking people. The police than took the thief away, but said that they would first take him to hospital, as he had sustained injuries. It was a very traumatic experience, and I urge everyone to remain vigilant and stay safe.”
Bongani Motshali, a worker from ‘SR Green Vision Gardening Services’, told the Laudium Sun, “As we arrived and stopped at the property, we immediately noticed something unusual happening in the street. We observed two men running up and down and attacking a white bakkie, which we believed to be an Isuzu. The individuals were shouting and behaving aggressively, and from what we could see and hear, they were being referred to as troublemakers. At that stage, we tried not to get involved and continued with our work. We went inside the property to prepare for the gardening job, as it was our first time working at this location. Everything seemed normal for a brief moment, but shortly thereafter, the situation escalated very quickly. One of the perpetrators suddenly ran off in one direction, while the other came straight towards our side of the property. His behavior was extremely aggressive and threatening. He was shouting loudly, saying that he was going to kill Erika. At the same time, he was holding a stone in his hand, which made the situation even more dangerous and frightening. He then approached the front garden area and began attacking Erika. It all happened very fast and there was panic among all of us. The other workers who were inside reacted immediately and closed the gate out of fear, trying to protect themselves. Unfortunately, this left Erika outside during those terrifying moments while the perpetrator continued his aggressive behavior. After a few minutes, we saw that the thief had been caught by some locals who had beaten him up on Delhi Avenue and then handed him over to the police. The entire incident was extremely traumatic for all of us. We were not expecting anything like this, especially on our first job in Laudium. As workers, we come to do our job honestly and safely, but what we experienced was completely the opposite. It was really a bad incident that has left us shaken and fearful. This was our first time working in Laudium and the experience has been terrible. We have always heard about crime in the area, but we thought things might have improved. We believed that Laudium had changed and become safer, but after what we witnessed and experienced, it feels like the situation has only become worse. There seems to be a serious problem with crime and violent behavior in the area and it is very concerning for people like us who are simply trying to earn an honest living. Incidents like this make it very difficult to feel safe while working and it raises serious questions about whether it is worth continuing business in this area. At this point, we are afraid to return and do work in Laudium again. Our safety is important and after such a traumatic experience, it is hard to ignore the risks. We hope that something will be done to improve safety in the area so that workers and residents can feel protected and secure in their daily activities.”
Vision Gardening Services,’ said, “At this point, we are afraid to return and do work in Laudium again.”