While CPF district head, Shaheen Wahab, seemingly has no clue on how to engage with police to fight crime in the Laudium/Erasmia area, his ‘new’ ally, and known apartheid government supporter, Yusuf Abramjee sings his praises and the praises of Cllr Naeem Patel, despite the ongoing crime and grime in the area, with residents living in constant fear.
According to many residents from the area, it is easy for Yusuf to praise both Shaheen and Naeem for doing a good job in Laudium and Erasmia, because he does not go through the trauma they are going through, as Yusuf has moved out from his Erasmia home and now lives in a security estate.
In one of the latest of incidents of crime brought to the attention of the Laudium Sun for stats purposes, so that others living in the area can be warned, following a number of armed attacks on motorcycle delivery riders in the area, another attack took place. This attack happened, despite the Police, the CPF and the Gauteng Wardens claiming to be patrolling the streets of Laudium. The about 30 wardens (wearing green overalls) who have been posted specifically for the Laudium area, with another separate batch posted for the Erasmia area, have also been given a BMW and another vehicle by the Gauteng Government, to do patrols in the Laudium area. Yet, many residents say that not only have they not seen the wardens patrolling, but they have not even heard of them. This, despite both Shaheen and Naeem praising the Wardens and remaining silent on the complaints of the community.
The latest attack took place this past Monday evening (Sept 22), at around 7pm, on Bengal Street Ext 3, Laudium. According to reports, two armed thugs on foot accosted the Malawian delivery rider, who was about to make a pizza delivery. The rider who works for Debonairs Pizza in Laudium, was attacked by the armed thugs, who then stole his motorbike, money and cellphone. The motorbike was recovered in the area.
The manager of Debonairs Pizza –Laudium, Amina Patel, told the Laudium Sun, “We can confirm that regrettably we had an incident where one of our delivery riders was robbed while on duty delivering on Bengal Street. The suspects demanded the delivery motorbike, a Cytec with registration number MGO 3BS GP, as well as his cellphone and the money he had collected from customers. It is a great loss for us and the driver was left deeply traumatised. Fortunately the motorbike was recovered, but it had been stripped. Thankfully, nothing major happened to the rider, but he is now terrified. Honestly, Laudium has become a gangster ridden place where no one can freely run a business, because criminals want to destroy everything ordinary people work hard to build. This community is becoming lawless and no one seems to be doing anything about it. Crime in Laudium is very high and I believe that if we cannot control it now, it will be too late to save our community from the criminals.”
Precious Marumo, a witness who was outside her house on Bengal Street when the robbery happened, told the Laudium Sun, “I was just sitting outside and it was very dramatic for me, because this was the first time in my life that I had seen such a frightening incident. I saw two armed male thugs approach the Debonairs Pizza delivery driver and immediately point a gun at him. The driver was delivering a package to my neighbour, when he was suddenly confronted by these dangerous thugs. They forced him to hand over his motorbike, money, and cellphone. Bengal Street, especially the top part, is really dangerous and we don’t see any police patrolling in our area. For girls, it’s not safe at all anymore. Laudium has now become a crime hotspot for many gangsters.”
Bengal Street resident, Keanen Ahmed, told the Laudium Sun, “I heard about the unfortunate incident through your Laudium Sun social media post and it is really scary. Bengal Street has become very dangerous, especially at night. We need more protection in our area. Crime is getting out of hand and the law enforcement agencies including the Police, the CPF and the Gauteng Wardens must take action before it is too late.”
