Petty crime continues to irk local residents, as more and more nyaopes come into the area from outside areas and freely take to the streets of Laudium.
Despite appeals from the community for the local police, the Council and the Gauteng Welfare Dept to decisively tackle the increasing number of nyaopes seen on the streets of Laudium, many of whom are harassing residents and are causing a nuisance, the authorities remain uninterested and have turned a blind eye. This follows yet another incident of petty crime that took place recently in Laudium, causing much frustration to a local family, who have had a similar experience for the fourth time in the recent past. The family from Jewel Street is now frustrated and is appealing to the police to apprehend the suspect or suspects who stole the car battery from their car, a Toyota Corolla GLT 160I, which was parked inside their yard. The theft which was discovered this past Tuesday (Sept 10) morning, has left the family very disappointed and unsafe due to the lack of patrols and security from the police side. Home owner Imtiaz Ahmed Vallee (57) told the Laudium Sun that the family was surprised and shocked to see the family car boot open on Tuesday morning, adding, “After having a few incidents of crime, we decided to install high gates and believed that it would not be easy for any intruder to enter our yard. But the criminal or criminals managed to get into our yard by jumping the boundary wall to get inside our yard and managed to steal the battery, an Exide 628c from the car. This is the fourth time the battery of the same car has been stolen,” said a frustrated Imtiaz. Imtiaz added, “Last year the criminals or criminal even entered our yard and stole the car battery. Our solar lights in the yard were also stolen. We even increased security by installing high gates so that the criminals would not be able to jump over, yet they managed to get in. Every time they steal my battery I have to replace it and buy a new one, which costs around R1300 on a brand new battery. This causes a dent in our budget and it is not fair that these thieves are allowed to get away with it. I’m frustrated and don’t know what else to do as we opened cases of the stolen batteries but the police apparently have found no leads on the suspects and have made no arrests. Our security is high class and we don’t know how to secure our place more now, as it is evident that the criminals are still getting in. The strange thing is that none of us at home heard any unusual noise on Monday night or early Tuesday morning. This shows how professional these petty thieves are becoming. When we woke up on Tuesday morning we were just shocked to find the bonnet of the Corolla opened and the battery gone. We called the police as we thought it would make a difference and hoped that the culprits would be caught, so that we can sleep in peace, without worrying who is in our yard, but so
far we have had no news from the police,” Imtiaz concluded.
Imtiaz’s mother Rabia Vallee (79) told the Laudium Sun, ”Our family also suffered another blow last year when two solar lights were stolen. The thieves climbed up the wall and stole the lights that were high up in the yard. We opened cases and even today we are still waiting for the outcome from the detectives. We are now tired! This is too much and now we must install more security and more fencing because of the criminals. We are pleading with the police to act and catch the thieves who are behind these evil acts.” *The Laudium Sun received reports that a car battery was stolen at Laudium Secondary School, also on Tuesday. It is believed that the car was parked by a parent visiting the school, outside the school yard.