Not only are thieves freely stealing vehicles in the Laudium area, despite claims by the police and the Laudium CPF, that their members regularly patrol the area, but the thieves are even being choosey as to which make of cars they steal.
This follows a worrisome trend over the past few months, with a number of Toyotas and more so the Yaris make, being the choice of theft by criminals, who are targeting these vehicles under the nose of the police and the CPF.
In one of the latest incidents of car theft in the area, reported to the Laudium Sun, a silver Toyota Yaris (registration BV88WJGP) was stolen this past Wednesday (July, 2) from 15th Avenue, in front of Umul-Qura Islamic School. The theft occurred while the owner of the Yaris, Shane Govender, who had parked the car at around noon, was teaching extra English classes at the school.
Shane of Onyx Street, Laudium, told the Laudium Sun, “I teach part time English at the Umul-Qura Islamic School on 15th Avenue. I arrived at around 12pm on Wednesday and parked my car—a silver Toyota Yaris—in front of the school, before going inside to start my class. About 10 minutes later, at approximately 12:10pm, I received a call from the car tracking company. They informed me that the vehicle had lost power and that the tracker had likely been removed. I immediately rushed outside the class to check and discovered that my car was gone, gone within 10 minutes of parking it. I was heartbroken. I had just parked my car and in such a short time, it had vanished. I couldn’t believe it. I was in constant communication with the tracking company and quickly reported the incident to the police, opening a case of a stolen vehicle. When viewing the CCTV camera footage from a nearby property, I saw two black males tampering with the car—these two thieves were the ones who stole my vehicle. I was completely shattered. I had worked so hard and saved to buy my dream car and in a matter of minutes, it was taken from me. I couldn’t eat or sleep—it was truly heart breaking. By God’s grace, at around 9:45pm on the same day, I received a phone call from my car tracking company, informing me that my car had been recovered in Pretoria West. The vehicle was successfully returned, but the police are still looking for the suspects involved in the theft. I want to thank God and everyone who prayed for me during this time. I’d like to send a message to the community, please be alert and cautious when parking your vehicles—even if it’s just for a minute. Laudium is no longer the safe place it once was. Criminal activity is rising and it’s not just about cars being stolen. Even people don’t feel safe walking on the streets anymore. Please be vigilant—our lives and property are at risk.
Noordien Ismail, a resident of 15th Avenue, Laudium, told the Laudium Sun, “The crime situation here is terrible and it’s definitely not getting any better. Every day, we see crime happening in our area, yet we remain silent, allowing criminals to do as they please. I was a victim myself when my house was broken into—it was a horrible experience. Crime in Laudium has reached a very serious level and something must be done. We urgently need stricter laws and stronger enforcement by the local police, otherwise it will be very difficult to save our community from these criminals.”
from these criminals.”
Kamal Mohammed, also of 15th Avenue, told the Laudium Sun, “Crime—especially car theft—is really increasing in our area. We’re even afraid to drive our cars at night or just go for a walk. The crime rate is extremely high. We urgently need to tackle this issue, because it’s becoming unbearable to live in Laudium with so much criminal activity happening around us. We need the local police to increase visibility in the area, urgently. There is too much talk with no action in fighting crime.”
