A new year, but the same old story, as residents begin the year once again living in fear with crime continuing in the Laudium/Erasmia area.
While it seems that the crime rate has come down, due to the street security gates that residents put up in various different neighbourhoods, out of desperation to keep criminals away, crime nevertheless continues.
It is certainly not safe for residents, even those living within the gated areas, to keep doors or even windows open, even during the current heat-wave that residents are faced with, as criminals walk the streets during the day and night looking for opportunities to steal. It seems to be common knowledge in the area, that criminals are monitoring the movements of residents and know what time people leave their homes and return and also know which homes are vacant and even the homes where owners have gone away, leaving their homes unoccupied for a few days. This follows one of the recent incidents of burglary, where thieves ransacked a home, that has been unoccupied for months by the owners, in a gated area. The burglary which was discovered last Friday (Jan 24), by the caretaker looking after the vacant home on Taj Street, has shocked neighbours, who were surprised that thieves had entered the area where street security gates were recently installed and which they believed was now safe for all those living within the boundaries.
The home was invaded by at least two thieves who managed to steal a number of items including clothes, a gas stove and a number of lights and fittings. The caretaker of the house, Dennis Mandla, told the Laudium Sun, “I was not around on Thursday evening and returned on Friday only to find that the house had been broken into. There is no one else staying in the house apart from me, and I went out that evening due to a domestic issue, so I wasn’t there for the night. Most likely, there were two or more thieves, as one of my neighbours say they may have heard them talking that night. The thieves broke in through the back door of the house and took a lot of items, including clothes, a gas stove and some fittings. It seems that these thieves went through all the rooms, but could not get into the living room, as it was locked. They tried to open it, but seemingly could not open it or were disturbed and left. The theft could have occurred anytime after 10pm on Thursday night to Friday morning when I returned as I left the house that Thursday night at around 9:45pm. The crime in Laudium is terrible, even with the security gates closing off the streets, which do not seem to be helping.”
Raees Shah of Taj Street, told the Laudium Sun, “The crime is really bad in our area and we need more security patrollers to stop it. It’s terrible. We even heard about the recent kidnapping of a 9-year-old child. It’s really bad. Even with the security gates, these thieves are still entering our area. We hope that in the near future, the crime will stop so that we can live a life where we don’t have to fear for our safety.”
Mohammed Khan from Taj Street, told the Laudium Sun, “Every week we read about crime in the area, in the Laudium Sun. It is depressing, but to be informed is to be prepared. There is a lot happening concerning crime on Taj Street and the surrounding areas. We heard about the break-in into the house near us and it is really scary for me, as I thought that the security gates on the streets would help, but seemingly this is not the case. We need to be more vigilant now. There are daily incidents of rape, murder, and robbery, which are not even being reported. I’m really tired of this country. India is much better for living compared to South Africa, as crime there isn’t like it is here. How can we solve the crime problem when our police are working with the criminals? There will never be a change for the better in this country, it’s only going down and more down.”
