The increase in crime experienced by residents of Erasmia’s neighbour, Gerhardsville, (also part of ward 61) is worrisome.
Like Laudium and Erasmia, Gerhardsville is also facing an influx of petty criminals into the area, many of whom are nyaopes, with residents there calling on the local police from Erasmia and the Tshwane Council to deal decisively with the influx of these nyaopes. One of the most common thefts that has been occurring in the area of late, is the theft of gate motors being stolen from the plots, with residents also demanding more police patrols in their area. Residents say that even protecting their properties with additional security gates and installing CCTV cameras on their properties is not deterring thieves from committing these thefts. Another factor that seems to be contributing to the high crime is the mushrooming of informal settlements around the area, which extends to the doorstep of the residential area of Erasmia, right behind Amity School in Erasmia. In one of the latest incidents of gate motor theft, a resident from Mimosa Ave in Gerhardsville, was surprised when he was on his way out from his house this past Monday morning (October 7). The property has two gates as an extra measure of security and when the owner left the first gate all seemed to be fine. It was only when he reached the outer gate and after pressing his gate remote button that he realised that the motor of the gate, valued at R12000, had been stolen. Neale Strauch (63) told the Laudium Sun, “I have been running a fish farming training centre at my place since 2017. When I woke up early this Monday morning, everything was fine at home. After doing my early morning chores, I proceeded on my way out. After pressing the remote for the outer gate, I was surprised that it did not open and then went to the place where the gate motor was mounted to check what the problem was. It is then that I was completely shocked to find that the motor had been stolen. When I checked my CCTV footage, that is when I saw that these criminals stole the motor in the early part of Monday morning at around 3am, when we were all fast asleep. My house has two gates for security reasons. One is the outer one from the street and the second gate is when entering the yard right by my house. The thieves only managed to steal the motor from the first gate as the second gate is deeper in and far from the first gate.” The clearly upset Neale added, “This is not the first time they have stolen a gate motor at my place. Last year thieves also stole the gate motor from the same front gate. My chairs from the fish farming training centre were also stolen not long back, leaving me frustrated because when my clients came to attend their training session, there were no chairs for them to sit on. We have CCTV cameras around the property even at the entrance of the outer gate and have even made our gate higher, but these persistent criminals are still stealing from me. They are not even scared of being captured on the cameras. I spent a fortune buying the gate motorwhich cost R12000. The theft of gate motors in our area is escalating and these criminals did not only steal from my house, they are terrorising our entire community. I opened a case of theft at the Erasmia Police Station and I am waiting now to see if the police will catch the culprits as nothing happened with the previous thefts.” Another resident from 5th Avenue in Gerhardsville, who refused to be named, told the Laudium Sun that he has opened a case of malicious damage to property after criminals tried to steal his gate motor. “They damaged the gate motor and the brackets in the process while trying to steal the motor.” According to another resident from Gerhardsville there have been about seven incidents of crime in the area, over the past week alone. The resident warned that crime would go out of control if the relevant authorities do not act now to curb the problem.
* The motor was stripped from this bracket (circled) at the gate.*
*The plot in Gerhardsville from where a gate motor was stolen this past Monday morning (Oct 7).*
When asked by the Laudium Sun what the Erasmia CPF was doing to curb the crime problem in Gerhardsville, Chairperson of the CPF, Pritesh Bhana, said, “The issue has been addressed with the SAPS to increase patrols and the CPF will work closely with them.”
* Neale Strauch of Mimosa Avenue, Gerhardsville, said criminals are terrorizing the entire community in the area.*