It is a sad state of affairs when residents cannot even take a brisk early morning walk, without being accosted by greedy criminals.
The latest such victim is Mohammed Irfaan Dawood, a sales agent for Old Mutual, who, after only moving to Laudium two years prior, says he was attacked by two 'youngish' thugs during the early hours of this past Sunday morning (Feb 4).
Irfaan told the Laudium Sun that he had been taking his routine jog down 19th Avenue at around 7am, from his rented home on Gem Street, towards the Laudium Sports Stadium, where, in order to keep fit and healthy, he exercises every Sunday. Irfaan explained that he was accosted by two well-dressed thugs. "Judging by their appearance, I was not suspicious of them in any way. As they came closer towards me, I heard them ask each other what the time was saying they were late for something. They then stopped me and asked me what time it was. I don't know exactly why, but I did not think anything was wrong." Irfaan continued to detail how he then took out his IPhone 6 from his pocket to check for the time. He recalled, with a slight shiver, how one of the greedy thugs grabbed his phone from his hand. "The other thug then pushed me to the ground and they both ran into Brown Street," he said.
"I didn't have the energy to chase after them. I was in too much of shock to have experienced such a crime from such 'decent looking' guys," the young father added.
He continued that he did not open a case because when he went to report the robbery, the police were apparently reluctant to help him. "If the police could do their job properly, we would have less crime in our community. Something needs to be done," he said.
"This time it was just a cell phone. But what if it is someone's life the next? We are no longer safe to just walk our streets and be free. We constantly need to check behind our shoulders and walk with protection. This is not the life we want our children to grow up with," Irfaan concluded. "The problem with crime was one of the main reasons we moved from Florida in Johannesburg, mainly for our children's safety. Now we find ourselves back to square one. These are crime-ridden times, no matter where you live”, said Irfaan's wife Latifah.
When the Laudium Sun approached the Laudium police for comment, they said Mohammed Irfaan Dawood was shocked when he was accosted during his early morning walk.
The robbery took place on 19th Avenue, just outside the stadium last Sunday morning at around 7am.