Residents call for increased security

• Published date: 23 March 2022
• Author: Tara Isaacs tara.isaacs@inl.co.za
• Publication title: Tabletalk

Thohera Fagodien thought she could give her two sons a better life when they moved out of a wendy house in Factreton, in Kensington early last year. But she started doubting she had made the right move when her 12-year-old son, Taahir, came home with blood streaming down his face and back on Thursday March 10

When Tabletalk met up with Ms Fagodien and her son on Friday March 18, Taahir was lying uncomfortably on the couch with a thick bandage strapped around his head and a dressing on his back.

“We just got back from dressing his wounds at the hospital but he is in a lot of pain,” she said.

According to Ms Fagodien, Taahir had taken his father’s phone, and gone to sit on the pavement across the street at the library to use their wi-fi. After about 15 minutes, he decided to walk home.

But, as Taahir stepped into the parking area of the complex, he felt someone grabbing him and saying “give me that phone,” in Afrikaans, she said.

She says his attacker dragged him out of the gate at the complex and assaulted him in Albow Road.

But, according to Ms Fagodien, Taahir fought back and his attacker bit him twice in the face and on the head.

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But, according to Ms Fagodien, Taahir fought back and his attacker bit him twice in the face and on the head.

Thaahir reminds his mother that his attacker had warned him, “shout and I will kill you,” and this is why he fought for his life, she said.

“When he came to the door of the unit, he said ‘mommy call the ambulance,’ and I just went crazy and started screaming,” she said.

She noticed that her son had been stabbed and took him to the bathroom while her eldest son called emergency services, and Taahir was taken to hospital.

Ms Fagodien showed Tabletalk photographs of what Taahir looked like when he entered the apartment, a pea-size hole in his head and swollen eyes were all covered in blood.

She says police took nearly two hours to arrive so she could lay charges.

Ms Fagodien says the gates at Albow Gardens are open all day and some nights, allowing anyone access to the complex; and that the lights at the complex don't work. She also claims that cars and apartments are being burgled almost every day.

Ms Fagodien says she and some other residents at the complex had put money together to buy locks and keys for the gates but the locks were broken off.

“I have been trying to get the councillor to agree to a meeting with some of us here, so that we can discuss the safety and security issues but he is always too...