With the recent violence flaring up in Itireleng these past few weeks, with even bullets from Itireleng flying into homes in nearby Laudium Ext 3, the area remains tensed, with residents in both Itireleng and Laudium fearful that another spark could trigger the place into a ‘war zone’ again.
Residents in Ext 3 say that they are living on their nerves edge, afraid of being attacked by criminal elements, who so easily and freely walk the streets in their area, without being questioned by police as to where they are from or where they are going to. A number of residents told the Laudium Sun that crime in the area has had a negative impact on their lives as they continue to live in fear, with the slightest sound in their yards causing them panic. One resident added that he used to have a good night’s sleep of about 6 hours, but nowadays he would be lucky if he could get a straight three hours sleep. “I used to be a heavy sleeper, but nowadays I am awake at the slightest sound, due to the ongoing crime in the area. This is taking a toll on my health.”
This follows a number of crime incidents being reported in the area over the past week. In one of the latest incidents, a resident living on Bengal Str, (near Kathmandu Str) was traumatised and found screaming for help outside her home, in the early hours of the morning, running onto the street, after spotting criminals at her home and then believing that her baby had been abducted by them. The incident of the ‘missing’ baby was circulated on social media, as the woman believed that her child was abducted, causing the neighbourhood to immediately rally together and search for the child (See post on Laudium Sun FB page). A few hours later, a ‘suspect’ was spotted away from the house and was caught by members of the community. However, by the time he was handed over to the police, he had sustained serious injuries and paramedics had to attend to him. Thus he could not be taken to the police cells. Meanwhile whilst the mother was still outside frantically trying to find out where her child could be, the sound of the child’s cries were soon thereafter heard, coming from her very own home.
This follows last Friday morning (September 9) where a family living on Bengal Street, in Extension 3 was left shaken after thieves entered their property, at around 1:00am in the early part of the morning. According to the owner of the double storey house, she and her husband were awoken after hearing a noise coming from the top portion of their house, which is rented out.
The owner, Moleboheng Motsepe (25) explained further to the Laudium Sun, “It was around 1am early Friday morning when my husband, our baby and I were asleep. Then my husband heard a loud bang which woke him up and he then woke me up. We both then decided to stay in bed and to wait if we could hear any other sounds. We were scared and either way unable to sleep again. Then we heard a louder bang that came from the top area of the house, as if it was from the veranda. Despite being scared, we both ran upstairs to check what was happening, where our tenants are living. When we got upstairs, the helper of the tenant who lives in another room, came running in shock, saying someone was trying to get into her section. When my husband went to check, he found the bathroom window broken, so he quickly ran back outside to check and spotted two guys on the roof trying to run away. The one guy ran away by jumping from the back wall and ran towards the hill, while the other one who had something in his hand, ran towards the front, but looked me in the face, before running away. I immediately went into the house to check on my baby, but he was not there. I then ran out and screamed for help as I then recalled that the thief had something in his hand, which I then realized could have been my baby. I was terrified as I thought that the thief had abducted my baby. Soon my neighbours came out and helped in searching for my baby. After a while, I heard my baby cry from inside the house. I immediately ran inside and found the tenant’s helper with my baby in another room. She then told me that she took my baby and went into one of the rooms, as she was scared that the thief might harm our baby.”
The Laudium Sun also spoke to the helper, Joyline Tsiga, the tenant’s general worker who said, “I was asleep with my madam’s kid who sleeps with me in my room. I was so fast asleep that I didn’t hear the window breaking until I heard Moleboheng screaming while running upstairs. I was in shock at the time, so while everything was happening, I just wanted to make sure the baby downstairs was okay, so I then took the lady’s baby and sat inside the room with her. But the lady was terrified because she thought the thief had taken her baby. Later on we noticed that the thieves had burnt something that was going to make us sleep. The thieves stole a pair of tekkies that were outside.”
