Another week, and once again a number of residents of Laudium and Erasmia are complaining about crime, despite many of them living in areas where their streets are gated.
Residents are once more calling on the CPF’s Shaheen Wahab (a dancing comedian on Tiktok who seemingly regards crime as a joke) and Cllr Naeem Patel who seemingly have ‘captured’ various local committees, that are supposedly meant to address challenges facing the community, including the burning issue of crime. Residents have also called on the Police, the CPF Patrollers and the Gauteng Wardens to pull up their socks and serve the community as they have pledged. With the local CPF seemingly having lost the ‘war’ against crime, a sudden ‘turn around’ statement has been issued by them; that patrolling the streets in the area is not part of their function. This has led to many residents now asking what then does the CPF do with the funds it gets from the Gauteng Government, donations from local residents and from fundraising dinners and events. The Laudium CPF is yet to produce audited financials to the community.
This follows more incidents of crime reported to the Laudium Sun, for stats purposes, one of the most recent being a burglary at an Indigo Str home this past Monday evening (Oct 6), at approximately 7pm. It is believed that two thieves, believed to be Black African males, broke into the home of Faisal Hashim, with the thieves, gaining entry through the garage roof, to access the house. During the burglary, the intruders stole a large amount of cash, a Samsung cellphone, several expensive perfumes and a collection of branded clothing, before fleeing the scene.
Once more, the thieves managed to enter and leave the premises of the victim, without being spotted by patrollers from the local Police, the CPF or the Gauteng Wardens, who have been allocated a BMW and another vehicle to patrol the streets in the Laudium Police Precinct.
Homeowner, Faisal Hashim, of Indigo Street, Laudium, told the Laudium Sun, “We moved into this house and into this area not so long ago, maybe about five months back, because we believed that this area was safe, more so because of the security gates on the streets and the security guards at the gates. But I was so wrong. I was shocked to discover that there had been a burglary at my house while we were not around. I was in Limpopo with my family for the weekend and we came back on Monday night at around 10pm. When I entered the house, I saw that the front gate was wide open and the house was in a mess. Everything inside had been turned upside down. Then, I checked my safe and discovered that the thieves had managed to open it and stole all the cash that was kept there. A number of other items were stolen, including my son’s expensive perfumes and clothes and my son’s Samsung phone. The lock of the kitchen door was broken and I guess the thieves entered my house through the kitchen door. But it was evident that the thieves got access through our garage roof which they broke open and then entered the house. They then broke the lock of the kitchen door and gained access to the house. There were fingerprints all over. I checked with my neighbour, who told me that they saw two Black males near my house at around 7pm, but thought that they were just passing by. I believe it’s the same guys who broke into my house. Crime is really out of hand in Laudium. I thought Indigo Street was safe and secure because of the gating system, but this is so bad. We are not safe anymore, anywhere in Laudium. I appeal to those involved with the gates to get better security guards and to have a tighter grip on the monitoring of the gates.”
Babu Ramjee of Indigo Street, told the Laudium Sun, “Our gating system at Indigo Street is really not helping to prevent crime. In fact, the crime is really bad now. Just recently, there was a break-in at my neighbour’s place. We should be demanding better police protection, but now I guess we, the residents, want to overtake the law and be the bosses. Why I’m saying this is because instead of really pressuring the police force in Laudium to patrol our areas more often, we choose to put up gates at our own expense and have our own gated streets. I don’t even know who appointed the guards, but clearly the gates and the guards are not helping at all. Now, since we have gated the whole of Laudium, we hardly see the Laudium Police patrolling our area. There are so many gates and to come from one street to another is such a hassle, not only for the Police but for other emergency services too. Just a few days ago, one uncle on our street passed away because the ambulance couldn’t get to our street, as the gate was closed. It took a long time for the ambulance to find another way in and the uncle was in a terrible condition and passed away before reaching the hospital. These kinds of incidents could continue to happen. Therefore, the gating system is making our daily life difficult and actually, crime is increasing instead of decreasing in Laudium and the surrounding areas.”
Nasima Maksud, also of Indigo Street, told the Laudium Sun, “I heard about the incident of the break-in on our street and it’s very frightening. This incident happened to our neighbour, so we could be the next victims, if these thieves are not caught. We fear for our lives and honestly, Laudium is no longer a safe place to live in. It has become a place where criminals roam freely, with the police and the other patrollers doing absolutely nothing to stop crime in the area.”