Several business owners told the Laudium Sun that they have been complaining for years about the crime and grime in the CBD, including the parking lot, half of which is used as a taxi rank, with no proper ablution facilities.
From rubbish being dumped, to potholes, to no road markings, to crime, to nyaopes harassing customers, these are just some of the complaints that have been ongoing for years, with politicians making many promises during election time, that they would give the matter priority only to be ‘forgotten’ after the elections. There were also promises made by the ANC politicians to install CCTV cameras in the CBD, but this also seemed to be just an election ploy to get residents to vote for the ANC. An ongoing complaint has also been the illegal dumping at the vacant ground where the old Post Office used to be, in the Laudium CBD (near the Civic Centre). Veteran businessman, Imran Younus, who has been trading as a butcher in the CBD for years, now trading as ‘Your One Stop Butcher Shop,’ told the Laudium Sun, “The dumping that is taking place on the vacant ground next to my shop is really bad. Because it is an empty ground, almost everyone around here is dumping there. I have asked the shopkeepers on numerous occasions not to throw anything there, but they just keep on dumping. The stench and the rats due to the rubbish are really annoying, and the place looks so filthy. I’m tired of complaining, this situation is really not healthy for us or for the business. I’ve lost many customers because the area is filthy and the smell is unbearable. Laudium is really becoming a dumping ground for everyone. I appeal to the Council to sell that piece of ground so at least it will not be used as a dumping site anymore and the Council should be more stern in enforcing by-laws and must intervene and take strict action against those who illegally dump in this area. This is not a dumping area. We should all unite to clean our area and make it neat so that anyone who comes to Laudium for shopping knows that it is a clean place and not a dumping ground. Many people don’t come to Laudium because they think it is an unsafe place to visit. But if we restore this place to the way it was back in the day, everyone will visit Laudium again, and we won’t lose any customers”
Tasir Iqbal, who also has a business in the CBD, told the Laudium Sun, “I don’t know who to blame, as it’s only at night that people dump on that empty vacant land. Many businesses are paying these nyaopes to collect the rubbish from their businesses and then dump it there. There is dirt absolutely everywhere, making this whole place in the CBD filthy. I think people who are selling on the streets also dump in that area. This is really bad, as people may think we are dumping, but we have dustbins and we don’t dump just anywhere. We are responsible shopkeepers who like to keep Laudium clean at any cost. Maybe the Council should provide these huge dumpsters for the hawkers and those shops who have more rubbish.”
Zafar Ahmed, who lives in one of the flats in the CBD on 4th Avenue, told the Laudium Sun, “I stay in one of the flats, and I see a lot of nyaopes come and dump in this area at night. So, I guess it’s not only the shopkeepers who are dumping, but it’s the vagrants or nyaope drug users who also come and dump, making this place very dirty. This must stop, as people may think it is only the businesses or residents who are dumping, but we don’t dump there at all.”
