The Laudium CPF stands accused of defeating the ends of justice, by assisting suspects to get away in a criminal matter, bribing or misleading the local police and then trying to silence the community by warning them not to post anything about the crime.
The CPF together with the so called Ward 61 Residents Association, is seen by many local residents as a ‘captured organ’ of Cllr Patel. CPF members are often seen escorting Patel in various areas of Ward 61 and beyond, even at political rallies of the ANC. Residents have recently started questioning the role the present Laudium CPF plays in fighting crime in the area, with some saying that the CPF seems to be more interested in taking photos of themselves at social functions, instead of allaying the fears of residents who are forced to close off their areas with gates, due to fear of being attacked by criminals.
The latest row against the Laudium CPF, follows a violent brawl and shooting incident at the Bismillah Restaurant in the Laudium CBD, this past Monday afternoon (April 7) at about 4:30pm. According to a number of residents, the fight was between two foreign nationals, on the one side a group of armed Pakistani nationals and on the other side Afghani nationals. The Laudium CPF which has a number of Pakistani nationals on its exco, is accused of siding with the Pakistanis and using the local police to cover up for the Pakistanis. The CPF is also accused of assisting the Pakistani culprits who shot at the scene, to make a getaway, by falsely placing two other Pakistanis as being part of the fight, with Shaheen Wahab the chair of the CPF telling the Laudium Sun that no shooting took
place at the restaurant, despite information received to the contrary. Furthemore, it is alleged that when the Afghan group who were shot at, went to the police station to lay charges against the Pakistani group, the Pakistanis were advised by certain CPF members to lay counter charges so that both charges could be withdrawn in court. While police arrested two persons from the Afghan group, they did not charge the main culprits who shot from the Pakistani group, as they got away, instead two ‘dummies’ were charged. It is believed that the Afghan group was warned that the Pakistani group was well connected with the local police and even had their friends in the CPF, thus it was best for them to withdraw the charges, which the Afghans eventually did.
Afghani speaks out
Mohammed Hasif, an Afghani national and the elder brother of the victim from Pretoria East, told the Laudium Sun, “The whole incident occurred two days ago when my brother, Arif Mohammed, received a phone call from an unknown Pakistani national who was staying in Laudium, named Ali Mohammed. On April 5th (Saturday), Ali demanded money from my brother for no reason as my brother did not owe him any money. He threatened my brother, demanding a lump sum of one million rand by Monday. My brother could not understand what Ali was talking about, as it is unreasonable for someone to randomly call and demand money. Then Ali again threatened my brother, saying that if he did not get the money by Monday, he would come to our house and physically assault and rape all of my brother’s female family members. We do not even know who this Pakistani national is or where he is from. Ali swore at my brother and told him that he would come and kill all of us if he did not get his money. Ali did not stop there; he continued calling throughout the day, threatening my brother that he would kidnap his child and kill him if the demand for one million rand was not met. “My brother, Arif, was in shock and at a loss for words following the distressing phone calls. He then reached out to me and shared the contents of the threatening calls. I advised him to return the call, and when he did, he confronted the caller about his aggressive behavior. The individual named Ali, challenged my brother to meet him at Bismillah restaurant in Laudium at 4:30pm, claiming that if Arif had the courage he should come. Therefore, my brother arranged the meeting with the so-called gangster, Ali Mohammed, in Laudium on Monday (March 7), to see if Ali had the courage to face my brother. Ali agreed to the meeting, and so did my brother. I, along with some of my family members, accompanied my brother Arif to Laudium, and we arrived exactly at 4:30pm, waiting for Ali Mohammed. While we were waiting, I saw Mubashir Hussain, the owner of Imran Supermarket on 9th Avenue. Mubashir and I are long-time friends. Someone had informed him that we were coming to see Ali. He mentioned that it might have been a mistake or misunderstanding, but he was there to mediate the meeting and try to neutralize both parties. I then said to him, ‘How can someone just randomly ask for money and on top of that, threaten all my family members? All of us were very angry about it.’ Hussain reassured me, telling me not to worry, as he was there to calm things down and figure out what went wrong during the phone call that Ali made to my brother, Arif. When Ali Mohammed came to the restaurant, he began to swear at us, and then the fight started. My brother and a few friends were hit and then they hit back to defend themselves and the situation went from bad to worse. Suddenly, Ali Mohammed and another guy took out their guns and fired into the air inside Bismillah Restaurant. We all became traumatized and panicked. I then went with one of my cousins to the Laudium Police Station to report the incident. Within a few minutes, the Laudium CPF, along with the Laudium Police, arrived at the restaurant. The Laudium Police with the help of the CPF, closed the front door of the restaurant and quickly allowed Ali and the other Pakistani guy who fired gunshots to escape. After that the Laudium Police arrested us and two Pakistani nationals to show that they had arrested both parties. They then took my brother and his friends to the Laudium Police Station. What is happening in Laudium is very concerning as there is a lot of dirty political activity, and on top of that, politicians and members of crime prevention units are siding with gangs. Ali Mohammed is a gangster, and it raises questions about how the police and CPF allowed him and others to escape. The criminals have taken over Laudium, and it seems too late to free Laudium from criminality.”
CPF gives Pakistani side of the story
Mubashir Hussain, a member of the Laudium CPF Exco and the owner of Imran Super Market on 9th Avenue, told the Laudium Sun, “I was present during the incident when a fight broke out between two parties (Pakistani and Afghani). The incident was not about money extortion; rather, there was a man named Ali Mohammed, whom I did not know, who helped one of the friends of my Afghani friend, Mohammed Hasif. This friend had been arrested at Menlyn Mall a few days ago, and Ali Mohammed paid R8000 for his bail. Ali Mohammed then called the brother of Mohammed Hasif to ask him to pay back the R8000. Subsequently, both parties began to use slang language over the phone, which led to a meeting at Bismillah restaurant on Monday, where the fight started when both parties arrived.”
free Laudium from criminality.”
Sarojini Murugen of 9th Avenue told the Laudium Sun, “I was right next to the restaurant on Monday where the fight took place, it was terrible, I even heard gunshots. The foreign nationals are destroying this country piece by piece as they are doing all the undesirable work here and harming our nation.”
CPF Chairperson Shaheen Wahab told the Laudium Sun, “On Monday, 7 April 2025, I received a message that there was a big fight at Bismillah Restaurant. I immediately contacted SAPS, and myself and some patrollers rushed to the scene. Upon our arrival, Laudium SAPS was already at Bismillah Restaurant. We immediately assisted to close off the area and let the Police handle the matter.
The information we received was that there was a business disagreement, and the two parties met to try and solve the problem. Unfortunately, matters escalated, and a fight took place.”
*Shaheen denied that there was any shooting that took place at the restaurant (despite witnesses saying to the contrary) or that the CPF was biased against the Afghanis at the
scene.
