It just becomes more and more apparent that both Cllr Naeem Patel and CPF Chair Shaheen Wahab are more about talks (and selfies) than about implementing action concerning crime and grime in the Ward 61 area.
The pair are believed to have instilled fear in the community concerning crime and were even behind the Laudium area being segregated into street gated blocks, then promoting a local security company owned by their ‘captured’ friend into ‘guarding’ these gated areas. However clearly, neither the street gates nor the security guards manning the gates are effective in stopping crime in these areas.
This follows yet more crime taking place in the gated areas, which have been reported this week to the Laudium Sun for stats purposes. In one of the latest of the crimes reported, a vehicle was stolen from a home on Taj Street, Laudium, this past Sunday evening at around 7:30pm. The vehicle, a black Toyota Yaris (Reg: XBD 390 GP), was stolen from the house garage, while the owner of the car was inside the house.
Asha Ramjee, the owner of the car that was stolen from a Taj Street, Laudium home, told the Laudium Sun, “We were inside our house on Sunday night and since it was Diwali time, we were busy with preparations and decorating our home. It was a usual evening, calm and peaceful and I had parked my Toyota Yaris properly inside my garage and made sure it was locked. At around 7:30pm, suddenly, my house alarm went off and I wondered why it had triggered. I quickly went to check all the doors, both inside and outside the house, thinking maybe it was a small fault or the wind. When I reached the garage, I was completely stunned to find that thieves had broken into our garage by breaking open the door and had stolen my Yaris, which was black in colour. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing . It felt like a nightmare, seeing the space in the garage empty, more so as I did not hear the car starting, so I assume the thieves first pushed it out of my yard. It is truly disturbing because this car was bought with my hard-earned money and within just a few seconds, it was gone. The feeling of losing something so valuable is truly heartbreaking. What makes it even worse is that this happened inside a gated area, where we always believed we were safe. We trusted that the security would protect us, but now it feels like there is no safety at all. So many incidents of crime have happened recently, including car thefts like mine and nothing seems to be improving. This is really horrible and as residents, we have lost all trust and respect for the Police and even the local CPF and Community Patrollers, because no action is ever taken. The criminals are becoming bolder, entering our gated areas openly and committing thefts without fear. We keep reporting these incidents, yet there is neither proper investigation nor results. People in our community are living in constant fear, wondering who will be the next victim. This ongoing crime must stop, as we cannot continue living in constant fear like this. Our police and the leadership need to take real action before more families suffer. We work so hard to buy these kinds of things, which are necessities and within moments, greedy criminals just take them away. I strongly suspect this theft was the work of at least two or more thieves, because breaking the garage door and moving the car out of the yard would require teamwork. Unfortunately, I didn’t see anyone, so I can’t say exactly how many were involved. Unbelievably, after my car was stolen, I even received a phone call from scammers claiming they had found my car and that I needed to pay them R4,800 through eWallet to get it back. This is a complete scam and I want to warn everyone… if your car is stolen and someone contacts you pretending they found it, please do not send any money.”
Feroz Khan of Taj Street told the Laudium Sun, “This country and this town is really in a terrible state. The politicians are completely corrupt and it seems like no one is truly honest anymore. I don’t want to even talk much about the crime situation in Laudium. We all can see it everyday for ourselves. The level of crime has become unbearable and it feels like there is no end to it. We are living in a gated area that is supposed to be safe, yet so many bad things continue to happen around us. Everywhere you look, people are frustrated and losing hope. We hear about break-ins, car thefts and robberies almost every week, yet nothing is ever done about it. It’s as if the politicians and the authorities have given up on the community. Even the people we trust to protect us, are not doing their jobs properly. Our community used to be so peaceful, but now fear has taken over. The sad truth is that corruption has spread everywhere from the top right down to the local level. It’s hard to believe that anything good can happen when honesty and justice are missing. We need real leaders who care about the people and take real action to make our area safe again.”
Tanya Mudaly, also of Taj Street, told the Laudium Sun, “It is so frustrating and heartbreaking to hear that yet another car has been stolen from our area. Crime is increasing every single day and we are living in constant fear for our belongings and indeed for our lives. Even though we live in gated streets, as a community there seems to be no safety or proper security anymore. Every week we hear of new incidents of crime and nothing is being done to stop it. We really need stronger protection and more visible policing in our neighbourhood.”
