THE family of a man who was brutally assaulted on Sparks Road on 14 March by a group of men who are alleged to have close affiliations to eThekwini Secure, says the organisation’s thuggish and gangster style needs to end.
According to the family member who spoke to the Berea Mail on condition of anonymity, the man was allegedly hit with a broken pick handle which left him with two broken bones on his right leg, countless bruises all over his body and an injury to his mouth.
“His car had run out of petrol and he was asking for help. The guy who he stopped was driving a charcoal grey car and he had called someone on the phone. After a few minutes several cars rushed to him. One of the vehicles was a white and orange VW polo, branded SNIPR which is a new vehicle branded under eThekwini Secure/eThekwini Dynamics/Secure holdings owned by Zain Soosiwala and Imtiaz Syed. They thought he was a con artist,” he said.
He added that the men had no reason to think so as he was well dressed and merely looking for transport as his current vehicle is broken down and he is unable to repair it. He also alleged that the men stole the victim’s wallet and a newly-purchased cellphone.
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However, Director of Secure Holdings, Imtiaz Syed rubbished the accusation and said this was just another smear campaign aimed at tainting the good work they do in the community.
“We are aware of the incident, but it did not happen the way the family puts it. We have been monitoring the man for quite some time. His modus operandi is that he parks his car on the side of the road and stands with an empty container/bottle pretending that he is out of fuel. That is how his scam works. We called the ambulance and the police. We are not vigilantes and we definitely don’t condone such acts. Our people are frustrated about crime and we are going to do everything in our power to fight it, whether people like it or not. eThekwini Secure is growing and you know that as in any other growing organisation you are bound to find those who are not happy with the progress. We want to reiterate that we are not scared of criminals and we are ready to deal with them,” warned Syed.
The family member said the victim was currently in Addington Hospital and unable to walk.
“An arrest needs to be made for their acts of vigilantism and undermining the law. This organisation is acting above the law and overpowering the police by attacking the innocent. It should not be allowed, accepted or tolerated. We have opened a case at Sydenham SAPS, we also urge witnesses to come forward as there were many people around when the incident happened,” pleaded the family member.
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