It has once more become evident that despite various neighborhoods in the Laudium/Erasmia area closing off their streets with security gates, crime continues in these areas.
The concern of residents, who are forking out hundreds of rand each month for the this security, has been that ‘unwanted’ elements were still getting into their gated areas by merely walking or driving through the open gates, despite guards posted at these open gates, while the guards on duty say that they are not empowered to stop anyone from entering the gated areas as the streets are public areas. In yet another incident of crime reported this week to the Laudium Sun for stats purposes, an electric meter box was stolen outside a Heliodor Str house, situated in the gated area. The theft which took place last Friday (Feb 7) evening has shocked the residents in the area, who still cannot understand how the thieves entered the gated area without being spotted or monitored. It is believed that two thieves entered the Heliodor Str yard of Sharon Naidu by jumping the front gate at around 8pm and stealing her prepaid meter box causing a black out in the house.
Sharon explained further what transpired, “I was doing some chores at the back part of my house, when all of a sudden I heard a loud noise and there was a blackout thereafter. When I got to the front yard I managed to see two black guys running away from my yard with something in their hand. I was later surprised to learn that thieves actually removed and stole our house electricity meter box. What was more disappointing was that I immediately reported the theft to the police and they even opened a case, but these cops never came out to investigate further where the box was or even try to look for clues concerning the thieves, or interview neighbours regarding if they had seen anyone suspicious that night. But the cops did nothing of that sort. We are often told, even in the Laudium Sun, to report crime even if it is a small item that is stolen, but what is the point when the police do not seem to be interested?” Sharon added, “Although there are security street gates all over, even in our neighbourhood, to try to stop crime in the area, it seems that these gates are not a deterrent. We contributed a lot of money for installing these gates and for the security guards, yet crime does not seem to be coming down. If anything, it seems to be getting worse. I am tired of this whole situation and if we as a community do not do something drastic to stop this crime, we will be forced to one day run away from our own homes.”
Fatima Moosa of Heliodor Street, commented, “We live in a place and time where criminals seem to be rewarded more than the heroes.
Almost every day we hear about incidents of crime and thanks to the Laudium Sun for alsokeeping us informed about crime, as the police do not say anything unless it is to promote themselves. The crime situation seems to be getting from bad to worse and these street gates do not seem to be helping. It is becoming scary to live in Laudium and I am actually considering moving out from Laudium. It is unsafe for our children to be brought up in such a tense environment where they are not free to play in the parks or even in our own yard during the nights.” Prem Somlal, also from Heliodor Str, told the Laudium Sun, “From drug related crimes to theft due to greed, the situation is becoming unbearable. This crime is giving our area a bad name and making it hard to live peacefully here. As a community we need to put a plan into action to curb this crime, as even these security gates and the closing of the streets is not helping. There is no law and order in the area. As you can see people are just doing what they want. You get the politicians coming into the area and making a big noise about crime, but a day later it is all forgotten and the criminals are back in business. The criminals need to get the message that the community of Laudium will not tolerate crime anymore.”
