Residents of Laudium and Erasmia continue to be infuriated and are fast realising that the local police cannot be trusted to protect them or their properties and that notwithstanding having street gates in many of the areas, more measures are needed to curb crime in their areas.
This follows the ongoing crime, despite residents in their respective neighbourhoods closing off streets, hoping to deter criminals from entering their areas. In one of the latest incidents of crime, regarded by some as petty crime, a Himalaya Street resident was shocked to discover last Friday (March 7), that his gate motor had been stolen. It was in the early part of the morning, at around 7am when homeowner Rashid Patel tried to drive out from his yard, but discovered that the gate was not opening despite engaging the remote of the gate. At first Rashid thought that there was an electrical problem with his gate motor and it was only when he got out of his car and went to inspect the gate motor box, when he discovered that the motor was missing. After the Laudium Sun was informed about the theft for stats purposes, from a nearby resident, our team visited Rashid this past Monday at his home and found that technicians were busy installing a new motor for the gate.
Rashid told the Laudium Sun, “It was very concerning for me when I discovered that my gate motor had been stolen from inside our yard. I only realized in the morning, when I tried to drive out of the yard that the motor was missing. Replacing the gate motor was not cheap. It is costing me around R5000 and that’s a lot of money for me, especially as I’m a pensioner. The days are tough, and organizing that money was challenging. I somehow managed to get the money together and am now replacing the stolen gate motor. My concern is not just about the motor stolen, it is about the decay and the lawlessness in this once beautiful suburb of Laudium. Crime in Laudium is sky-high, despite gates being installed at every corner. We need more police patrols, and the security guards must be more vigilant. What’s the use of having gates on our street when crime doesn’t stop? Crime is happening every day in Laudium, which many times we do not even know about, other then what we hear or read in the Laudium Sun. The lawlessness in Laudium is terrible and must stop. Crime is really getting out of hand, and as residents of Laudium, we must stand together to fight it. Why is Laudium so easy for criminals to target? There are many questions that raise eyebrows, but one thing is clear: we need to stop the crime if we want to live freely and happily in Laudium.”
Concerned resident Jamil Omar, also of Himalaya Street told the Laudium Sun, “Crime in Laudium is unacceptably high. It seems that the season of stealing gate motors has once more begun. There’s a black market where these motors are sold for a good amount of money. It’s an easy target for criminals to steal and sell and in the end, people like us, who live day to day, suffer because we have to replace the stolen motors, which cost a lot of money. There must be more security on our streets, and we especially need more police patrols every night to prevent criminals from having the chance to steal.”
Another resident of Himalaya Street, Iqbal Mohammed, shared with the Laudium Sun, “I heard about the theft of the gate motor and it’s really worrying. This crime must stop in Laudium because we can’t live freely any more. That’s why many locals are moving away from Laudium into security estates. Day by day, it’s becoming a crime hub where criminals can rob anyone, even at gunpoint. It must stop and the police in the area must become more active. As residents of Laudium, we must stand together to fight this crime.”
