Another week and again neither the Laudium police nor the Laudium CPF have informed the local community about the latest crime trends and crime stats for the week.
It is becoming obvious to many residents that the Laudium CPF is failing the community concerning crime and that their chairperson, Shaheen Wahab, seems to be more interested in posing for the camera and acting as a security guard for Cllr Patel. As such, the Laudium Sun has to depend on residents to come forward to inform the community about crime for stats purposes.
In one of the latest incidents of crime reported to the Laudium Sun, a gang of four thieves raided a Laudium home last Friday evening (May 23), stripping most of the fixed items in the house, that has been vacant for some time now. The thieves who the security guard at the premises thought were building contractors, sent on behalf of the owner of the house, arrived just past 6pm, in a Toyota bakkie. They managed to get into the house by breaking open the front gate and door leading into the house. Once inside the 3rd Ave house, the gang proceeded to strip and steal various fixed house items including electrical wiring, light fixtures, and water taps, with an estimated value of more than R200,000. Despite the house being situated in an industrial/retail area, known to be busy late Friday afternoons, no one noticed anything suspicious happening at the house. Even the security guard on duty at the property did not sense anything suspicious.
Malves Auphias, the security guard from Khan’s Tactical, who was on duty at the time of the theft, spoke to the Laudium Sun about the burglary, “I was on duty on 3rd Avenue when the incident happened. Honestly, I didn’t suspect that the four men, who pretended to be workers, were actually thieves. The owners of the house don’t live there anymore—they moved out and the house has been vacant for some time. From what I know, there had been no activity at the house prior to that day. So, when the four men arrived in a white Toyota bakkie, I assumed they had been sent by the owner to carry out repairs or fix the lighting. I was stationed on the other side of the street doing my rounds, so I didn’t approach them or ask any questions when I saw them. A while later, when I came closer to the house, I noticed the bakkie was gone and the front door was damaged, as the house appeared to have been broken into. That’s when I immediately realized something was wrong. I believe a neighbour might have informed the homeowner about the break-in. It was later discovered that the intruders had stolen many items, including the electrical wiring, light fixtures, and water taps. I heard that altogether it was worth over R200,000. The house is quite large, so there were many valuable fittings and electrical components inside. From what I saw, they stripped most of the fixtures.”
3rd Avenue businessman, Imran Osman, expressed his concern to the Laudium Sun, “The crime rate in our area is really high and we as a community need to be more vigilant. Any suspicious activity should be immediately reported to the police or at least shared on our local WhatsApp group. That way, we can stay informed and united in dealing with crime. We need to be more proactive than the criminals. Unfortunately, we can’t always rely on the local police or the security guards, especially in this country where trust is a challenge. It’s up to us, as residents in Laudium, to look out for one another and take collective action to protect our neighbourhood.”
Tariq Patel, another 3rd Avenue businessman, shared his thoughts with the Laudium Sun, “I hadn’t heard about this particular incident, but I often read about crime in the Laudium Sun. It really feels like the criminals are winning and that’s a worrying trend. Our community needs stronger protection and care. There should be more visible police patrolling in our area and as residents, we need to have faith in the police and support their efforts, if indeed they do patrol regularly. I truly hope that one day the crime rate will go down and Laudium will return to being the safe and peaceful place it once was, for everyone.”