Residents living in the Laudium/Erasmia area are once more appealing to the Tshwane Council and the Gauteng MEC for Social Services to address the influx of nyaopes streaming into the area.
Residents say that besides the nyaopes making the area their new home and living in unhygienic conditions, by sleeping in abandoned homes, parks and outside business premises, amongst others, many of these nyaopes have turned to crime. From petty crime to even armed robberies, fingers have been pointed at many of these nyaopes as the culprits involved in these crimes. Many residents say that they are fed up with the ongoing crime in the area and that police are
doing very little if anything, to be pro-active in curbing crime in the area. This follows yet another theft that took place at the Council owned tennis courts at the corner of 15th Avenue and Jade Street in Laudium. The theft which was discovered this past Sunday (July 28) has left nearby residents disappointed yet again, more so as police do not seem to be patrolling the area frequently despite the ongoing crime in the area, with nyaopes known to be using the tennis court area for various vices. Sadiq Bhamjee who stays near the tennis courts told the Laudium Sun, “On
Saturday night one of the street lights was on fire, so many residents living in the area, were up until 2am on Sunday morning waiting for the maintenance team of the Council to wrap up and between those hours I didn’t notice anything unusual at the tennis courts.
However later on Sunday morning as I was going to the shop nearby, I noticed that the entire gate going into the tennis court area was missing. I believe that the gate was stolen after we went to bed, between 2am and 5am am and due to the instability and lack of maintenance, it must have been easy for thieves to remove the gate without being noticed. However, the gate was not the only thing that was stolen, as part of the palisade fencing was also missing. These ongoing thefts and illegal activities going on at the tennis courts at night, is giving us residents in the area sleepless nights. I just hope that the police will increase their patrols in the area. Although the gate was later spotted hidden at the back part of the tennis courts, the thieves are just going to steal it again.” Mohamed Choonara who also stays near the tennis courts raised his concerns to the Laudium Sun, “These tennis courts are a hub for criminals, who walk in and out as they please, because although the place is supposedly fenced, it is not locked and there are no police patrols checking up there. These criminals have been stripping the place, even the fencing, but it does not get fixed by the Council. We have so many times reported about the illegal activities going on at the
tennis courts, but the criminals come back the following day and then it is the same story over again. The authorities are not dealing with the cause of the problem but only the symptoms and that too, sometimes only.”
Shiraaz, the son of Mohamed said, “What is sad is that we know these criminals. They are the very same people who break into our homes. These tennis courts are used by these criminals to hide the goods that they steal there. They use the toilets as their storage for all the stolen goods. You guys even covered the story of the wrong that is going on at these tennis courts, yet the police and the Council are doing nothing to stop the illegal activities.”