Residents of Eldoglen and surrounds, who frequent the nearby Eldo Square shopping centre on Willem Botha Drive, in Centurion, for shopping and dining, were shocked that the Square was the center of a robbery carried out by an armed gang.
The robbery incident took place this past Tuesday evening (Sept 21) just before 7pm. The centre is fairly busy during the evenings, as many nearby residents living in secured gated estates, frequent the place during dinner time, due the number of food outlets there, especially as most are halaal friendly. A large number of those residents living in the estates are former Laudium residents, who moved into the area, due to the high crime rate in Laudium. One of the famous food outlets at the centre, D’lish Spice Emporium and Take Away, which sells mainly take away food and also spices and is well known for its burgers, was attacked by a gang of four armed thugs. Nabeel Katkodia, owner of D’lish, in the presence of his neighbor, Bilal Ajmer, owner of Ajmer Butchery spoke to the Laudium Sun, “At around 6:45 pm, four black guys came into our shop. In fact, they had come earlier, around five minutes before the incident took place. I think they were scouting the area, as we saw them on the CCTV footage, after the robbery. From the four guys who barged into the shop, three walked inside and the other one stood at the entrance of the shop, acting as if he is working there and controlling the people coming in. These thugs were travelling in a white Avanza with no registration. Two of the thugs had guns pointed at the people inside the shop and they were very ruthless to all of us, demanding our valuables, threatening to shoot us. They stole cigarettes from the counter and many other items including cash. They also robbed three customers who were inside at the time, taking the cellphones, wallets and car keys from the customers. One of the customers, who was old and was parked right in front of the shop, was dragged out of her car. She is extremely traumatized and can’t even walk now. It seems like it was a well-planned robbery. The thugs had masks and caps, and one of them was wearing a Lacoste cap. It was a very traumatizing experience. I would not wish it on anyone. This is the first time that something like this has occurred in our shop. I did not report the matter to the police, because what they will do? Nothing! The police are not interested in catching the criminals at all. That is why crime in this country is so high.”
Boitumelo Mthiya, manager of Eldo Square, said, “We are investigating the incident and what happened. We cannot confirm anything yet, but we would like to assure our clients and customers, that we are looking at beefing up security at our centre, and that everyone must feel secured when they are on our premises.”
Wierdabrug Police Station, spokesperson, Captain Agnes Huma, said, “I would like to encourage residents to report any crime that takes place in the area. This will not only help us to follow up on the investigations and arrest the culprits, but it would also assist us on having a clear idea about the crime statistics in the area, which will guide us on how to boost security in the area.”
