Despite claims by the Laudium CPF, headed by the chairman of the South African Pakistan Association, Zahid-ul-Zama, that the CPF regularly patrols the streets of Laudium, crime in the area still continues.
From petty crime to more serious crime such as armed robberies, residents continue to be victims and live in fear, as the local police are neglecting their duties of serving the community, while the CPF are mostly seen by the community as ‘glorified car guards’, promoting the ANC and ANC Cllr Patel. With residents losing confidence in the police, many are not even reporting crime, especially petty crime, as they believe that the police are not interested in arresting the culprits.
In one of the latest incidents of petty crime reported to the Laudium Sun this week, two Black males stand accused of stealing an electricity meter box that was fixed outside a tuck shop, last Wednesday. It is believed that the two thieves ripped the meter box connected to ‘Alam Tuck Shop’ on Bengal Street, in the early part of the morning, at around 2am.
Alam Jahangir, the owner of ‘Alam Tuck Shop,’ on Bengal Street, Laudium told the Laudium Sun, “I live behind my shop and when I went to my shop in the morning, I was surprised to see that everything was switched off, even the fridges. At first I thought that the lights had just gone off as it was again a matter of cable theft in the area, but then I realised that there was lights by my neighbours and behind my shop, where I live. I tried all the switches at the inside mains board thinking that it might have tripped, but they were all up. It was only when I went outside again that I was surprised to see the electric meter box in front of my shop had been stolen. I could not believe that thieves would actually steal a meter box. It then hit me that earlier during the night, I heard an unusual sound coming from the front part of my shop at around 2 am in the morning, but due to the high tension that is going on against foreigners, I did not have the courage to open up and check what was happening outside. I felt unsafe at that time and decided to stay inside. Now when I think about it, I strongly believe that the electric meter box which was stolen must have been taken at that exact time when I heard the noise. From what I understand, this theft might have been carried out by two Black thieves who came prepared and knew what they were doing, as a neighbour spotted two Black guys acting suspiciously in the area at around that time. Taking out an electric box that has live feed does not seem like something that just happens randomly, because it is not an easy task and it requires effort and time, as it can shock a person if one is not careful. This makes it even more worrying because it shows that criminals are becoming more bold and are not afraid to target small businesses. This situation has caused a lot of problems for me because all my goods that were kept in the freezer got spoiled and melted, due to the electricity being cut when the meter was stolen . This theft was a big loss for my business and it is very difficult to recover from such damage, as the Council took a few days to replace the meter. I depend on my shop for my daily income and incidents like this make it very hard to continue running the business properly. Crime in this area is really high and there is very little visible presence of police or the CPF. It feels like there is no proper control and criminals are taking advantage of the situation. Laudium is becoming known for crime and it seems like criminals are slowly taking over. There is no peace in Laudium anymore and people are living in fear every day.”
Hassan Ebrahim of Bengal Street told the Laudium Sun, “The theft of the electricity meter of the small tuck shop is really wrong, because the owner works hard and long hours 7 days a week, to provide an honest living for his family and himself. Instead of finding peace, small businesses are facing crime on a daily basis, which takes away the little money they make. Having no electricity for about 5 days was very upsetting because the tuck shop owner is already struggling and incidents like this only make things worse for him. It is not easy to run a business, when criminals target such places, it destroys the confidence of people who are trying to survive. Looking at what is happening around us in Laudium, it feels like crime is getting out of control and it does not seem like there is enough being done by the police or the CPF to stop it. There is hardly any police presence with police patrols in the area very limited, which is something that needs serious attention. When there is no visibility of law enforcement, criminals feel free to do whatever they want without fear. Another concern is that these crimes are not happening in hidden places, but right in front of shops and homes where people are supposed to feel safe. This shows that
criminals are becoming more daring and desperate, which is creating fear, not only for business owners but also for residents who live nearby. Residents are starting to feel unsafe even on their own streets and that is a very worrying situation. We need to understand that if this crime continues, it will affect the entire community. Businesses will start closing, people will not want to invest or operate in the area and slowly the environment will become worse. Once that happens, it will become very difficult to bring things back to normal. That is why action must be taken now, by the police, the CPF and the politicians, before it is too late. Otherwise Laudium will eventually become a place where people are afraid to visit or work in and residents will have to lock themselves at sunset in houses with higher walls and electric fencing.”
