Crime and more crime, in a country, province and city led by the failing ANC, seems to be the order of the day, that local residents are frequently faced with.
While ANC Councillor Naeem Patel and his ANC members in the Laudium CPF try to paint a ‘good picture’ of the ANC, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the ANC is not capable of effectively ruling the country. Not forgetting that the ANC is not even capable of running its own party, even messing up in filing names of candidates for the local elections to the IEC, for the forthcoming elections.
Back to the ongoing crime in Laudium… in one of the many reports received by the Laudium Sun this week thieves broke into a local school, with the theft being discovered when teachers returned on Monday after the weekend.
Staff at Laudium Primary School discovered that thieves had broken into the maintenance storeroom by breaking the lock and latch of the door and stealing all the gardening equipment that was stored inside. Despite the quantity and large sizes of the equipment stolen, neither the Police nor the CPF Patrollers spotted the thieves leaving the school yard with the stolen items. Ironically, even the security guard hired from ‘Cops Security,’ who was on the premises, did not notice the thieves entering or leaving the school grounds.
with staff discovering on Monday that all the gardening equipment stored there had been stolen.
Acting Principal of Laudium Primary, Murali Padayachy, told the Laudium Sun, “We discovered that the school had been broken into, when we arrived on Monday morning. The thieves gained entry into the maintenance storeroom by breaking the lock and latch of the door, thereafter stealing all the gardening equipment that was stored there. This equipment was used by our maintenance staff to keep the school grounds and garden clean and properly maintained, so the theft has affected the daily work that needs to be carried out around the school. We thereafter enquired from COPS, who is our security company, as to what reports they received in terms of the security guard who was on duty at the school. We wanted to establish what happened and whether anything suspicious had been noticed or reported. We are currently waiting for their response so that we can get a clearer understanding of what happened while the security personnel were on duty. We have, as per Department rules, reported the theft to the local SAPS. We hope that their investigation will provide more answers about how the thieves managed to enter and leave the school premises. We believe that the entry was from the back of the property, through the Laudium tennis courts. We found a chair with a tyre on it and a carpet over our perimeter fencing. This was also reported to the Police because we believe these ‘tools’ may have been used to gain access over the fencing. We are waiting for the outcome of the investigation. We hope that the Police will be able to establish who was responsible for the break-in, recover the stolen gardening equipment and arrest the perpetrators. At this stage, we are allowing the relevant authorities to conduct their investigation and we will provide them with whatever information and assistance is required from the school side.”
Sadiq Moosa Bhamjee of 15th Avenue, Laudium, who lives opposite the tennis courts, told the Laudium Sun, “It is really disgusting to know that criminals can have the audacity to steal from a school. A school is supposed to be a safe place for children, teachers and the wider community and when criminals target a school, it shows how serious the crime situation has become in Laudium. I feel that criminals are becoming more brazen because they believe they can get away with these types of crimes. Laudium is literally being taken over by thieves and gangsters and as residents we cannot continue to ignore what is happening around us. We often hear about various harmful incidents happening in our community and it is concerning to see that crime still remains such a massive issue. I believe residents want to see stronger action being taken by the Police and the politicians to make our streets safer and to protect schools, homes, businesses and other important places in the community. I also feel that the Councillor needs to do more about the problems affecting our area. Residents expect the people who represent them to listen to their concerns and act when there are ongoing problems. From what I see, there are still serious concerns about crime. I believe more needs to be done to address the situation instead of allowing residents to continue feeling unsafe. There are also changes taking place within the community and in local structures, including the CPF and Council and I believe residents need to pay attention to who is representing them and what is being done for the community. We must be wise about who we choose to vote for, in this forthcoming election, because our decisions will determine the direction our community takes for the next 5 years.”
