Soon after the season of Spring started on Monday, Sept 1, thieves prowling the Laudium area, sprang into action, stealing a motor vehicle parked in the parking lot of a block of flats in Laudium.
Questions are once more being asked as to how criminals are so easily entering the Laudium area and leaving with stolen items, without being spotted by the CPF Patrollers or the local police. The theft of the blue Toyota Yaris registration number JX18WCGP, which was stolen last Tuesday morning, from the Juma Mansions parking lot, in the early part of the morning at around 5:30am left the owner heartbroken.
It is believed that four unknown African males were involved in the theft of the Yaris from the residential complex on 13th Ave, in Laudium. Fortunately, with the help of a tracking device on the vehicle, the Yaris was recovered soon thereafter in Soweto.
Shafkaut Carrim, a resident of Juma Mansions on 13th Avenue, Laudium, and the owner of the stolen blue Toyota Yaris, told the Laudium Sun, “It was truly heartbreaking when we discovered that our blue Toyota Yaris had been stolen early in the morning, from the parking area in front of our flat. My wife usually drives the car and she was about to leave for work at around 7:30am. When she went out to the parking area, she noticed that the car was missing. She was completely shocked because the car had been parked right in front of our flat the previous night and we couldn’t understand how it went missing. The last thing on our mind was that the car could actually have been stolen. We therefore immediately asked the people living in the complex if anyone had seen the car, but no one knew anything. We then approached the security guard who was on duty. He told us that at around 5:30am, he had opened the gate after seeing some unknown males drive our car out. He assumed, without even looking into our car, that it was our family members in the car and allowed them to leave. That’s how the thieves managed to drive out our vehicle. I was astonished to learn how easily they got into the car and drove away.
Three suspicions
In my opinion, I have three main suspicions about this case. First, I suspect the security guard, who was on duty at the time. He knew it was my car, so why would he just open the gate, without confirming with us, or even checking who was in the car? Then he says that he saw four Black males by the security gate. Our residential complex is not very big and any unusual activity should have been noticed, but the guard ignored the situation and allowed the suspects to steal the car. My second suspicion is that this could have been an inside job, involving one of the tenants, who may have given information to the thieves. My third suspicion is that the criminals may have slept inside the complex unnoticed and then stolen the car in the morning. The sad reality is that there is no law and order in this country. If there was, South Africa would be 20 years more advanced than it is now. The ANC government is corrupt and we cannot expect much from corrupt officials. Indirectly, the government benefits from crime. For example, my car was later recovered in Soweto and impounded, but I still don’t have it back because it’s tied up with insurance. Whatever costs we go through in the process, all the VAT goes to the government. So in a way, the government benefits hand-in-hand with the criminals.”
Farida Cassim, a resident of Juma Mansions, told the Laudium Sun, “The crime is too high in Laudium. We only read about the crimes through in the Laudium Sun and it’s really terrible. There is no law and order at all and it seems that any criminal can target us living in Laudium, whenever they want. This is really scary and it must stop. Crime is increasing each and every day and our police are just sitting and watching.”
Asif Ali, also of Juma Mansions, told the Laudium Sun, “The crime in Laudium is really out of control. How could four thieves steal the car just in front of my neighbour’s flat. We can’t trust anyone in this country, even though we do have a security guard in place. This is totally insane because who can we trust if we don’t have anyone to trust.”
Laudium is out of control.
Ramuzanoi Hassan, the caretaker of Juma Mansions, told the Laudium Sun, “I heard about the incident where the blue Toyota Yaris was stolen, but I do not know the details of the theft. The owner of the car reported this incident to the police and we need to wait for the investigation to be completed. If the security guard or a fellow resident is found guilty, we will take necessary action against them.”