With the ongoing crime in Ward 61 mainly taking place in the Laudium and Erasmia area, thieves are now spreading their wings in the Ward. Crime, especially petty crime, has become an almost daily occurance in the Laudium/Erasmia area, with residents claiming that the increase is due to the influx of nyaopes now living in the area, many of whom stand accused of stealing anything of value, even to the value of just a few rand, so that they can buy drugs that they are so addicted to.
However, a new trend has emerged with residents from neighbouring Gerhardsville (also Ward 61) now also complaining about the increase of crime in their area, especially petty crime. Residents say that although they report crime incidents even that of petty crime, to the local police (Erasmia Police), crime continues as it seems the police do not have sufficient resources to fight crime in the Erasmia area, especially due to its vast land space, which includes a big farming area. Very similar to the complaints of Laudium residents, Gerhardsville residents also say that the petty criminals, believed to be nyaopes, are stealing anything and everything in sight that they can get their hands on, with no care of the consequences nor the conditions in which they leave the people they steal from. One of the recent incidents that left residents shocked, was the one that was discovered on Fifth Ave, Gerhardsville, last Sunday, where thieves entered the premises in order to steal a gate motor.
Care-taker of the premises, where a number of tenants live, Charles Dutton who was made aware of the criminal incident by one of the tenants, Jan Esterhuizen, told the Laudium Sun, “It was on Sunday at around ten in the morning when I received a call from Jan who made me aware that there was an intruder or intruders on the property as he found the lock of the motor was broken whilst on his way out, heading somewhere. I immediately called our landlord Janine to also inform her about the gate motor and then went out to the gate. Upon my arrival to the gate I found that the lock was broken and the bolts of the motor were missing. I was totally surprised because when I took my last walk on Saturday night, before I headed to bed everything was okay.”
Charles further said that the thieves would probably have tried stealing other items also, but he believes that they must have been startled by the barking of the dog in the yard, that woke one of the tenants during the night which resulted in him switching on the lights at the gate. It is believed that the thieves must have jumped the wall to get inside the yard as there is an open veld next to the plot on Fifth Ave, Gerhardsville.
Responding to the incidents that are taking place at her property landlord, Janine Pretorius told the Laudium Sun, “This issue of stealing gate motors is now becoming a normal trend. This is not the first nor the second time that something like this has happened to us and no matter how we secure the gates or the motor itself, these thieves always come back. Crime in the area seems to be on the increase of late. Just like in the past, we have reported the incident to the police, but we are not sure if anything will come of it.”
Erasmia CPF chairperson, Pritesh Bhana, told the Laudium Sun, “We are concerned with the increase of crime in the area. Unfortunately our police do not have sufficient resources and manpower to increase patrols in the area. The Erasmia police precinct is one of the biggest in the region, with a huge tract of farmland to also cover. I will however once again raise the concerns of the Gerhardsville residents with our police and see what can be done in terms of patrolling the area more often.”