The Laudium CPF and its partner, the Laudium SAPS, is clearly failing residents living in the area, as more and more residents feel unsafe living or working in Laudium.
This follows yet another robbery taking place in the area, this time on 17th Ave, where two armed thugs attacked and robbed a spaza shop, trading as ‘Chips Tuckshop.’ The thugs who pretended to be customers, entered the shop this past Sunday (Aug 31) and robbed the owner of cash, also stealing a number of items including cigarettes, cold drinks, and hubbly from the counter, before making their getaway without being spotted by the local CPF patrollers or the police. The robbery, carried out by two Black males, occurred on Sunday morning at around 10am, leaving the owner frightened and traumatized.
Alex Kassa, an Ethiopian national and the owner of ‘Chips Tuckshop’ on 17th Avenue, Laudium, told the Laudium Sun, “I was inside my shop on Sunday morning at around 10am, when I noticed two young Black males enter the shop. They asked me a lot of questions, like they wanted to buy this brand of cigarettes and that brand of cigarettes and they confused me a lot. After they asked so many questions, when the shop was very quiet, they all of a sudden took out a big knife and demanded that I surrender all the packets of cigarettes, some cold drinks, and the hubbly from the counter and the cash in the till. More or less, I lost around R10,000 in total and the thieves managed to run away with all those goods. I cannot understand how they got away in broad daylight without anyone noticing them getting away. The crime is really bad in Laudium, especially on our street. Most of the crime is also not being reported as people have lost confidence in the police. Fortunately the Laudium Sun covers some of the crime, so at least people are aware that Laudium is not safe and we must be cautious. We are not safe anymore and to run a business in this difficult, high-crime environment, is not easy. We are really in bad shape and all we really want safety for ourselves. I am very traumatized by what happened, but luckily nothing happened to me and the thugs ran away. We need protection. There must be more police patrols in our area.”
Munir Alam, a business owner from 17th Avenue, Laudium, told the Laudium Sun, ”The crime overall in Laudium is terrible and each and every day we hear something about crime. This is totally insane because if there is such high crime, then how can we operate our businesses peacefully? The crime must decrease in order to have a peaceful society.”
Imran Mazar, another resident of 17th Avenue, told the Laudium Sun, “The crime is really terrible in Laudium and we must create an environment where we feel safe. There have to be more police and CPF members patrolling the area and residents must unite to fight against crime.”
