As more and more areas in the Laudium precinct are becoming gated, with residents desperately hoping that they and their properties would be protected from criminals, seemingly thieves are now increasingly targeting the areas that are not gated.
This follows 2 break-ins, in the early hours of last Thursday morning, (August 8) into a supermarket and butchery on 13th Avenue. It is believed that 5 Malawians living in Laudium, are involved in the break-ins.
Manager of the supermarket, Kit Kat Express, Rezaul Islam, told the Laudium Sun, “We normally close the store by 8pm and on Wednesday night when we closed the store at around 8pm as normal, I checked if everything was in order and indeed everything was in order, when we left. However in the early hours of Thursday morning at around 3:30am, I received an SMS message from our security company, PAJ security telling me that there were thieves who got inside our premises from the roof and that they pointed a gun at the guard but their supervisor checked and everything was okay. Due to the time the message was sent, I did not respond immediately to the message as I was asleep and only saw the message in the morning at around 6am when I woke up. As soon as I saw the message I called one of our assistants and the police and went to the store. When I got there I found that our shop had been broken into. The thieves had come through the roof and the ceiling to enter the shop. They got onto the roof from entering a gate that is on the side of the shop and then climbed up to the roof and entered the supermarket. Our shop was all messed up as it seems that the thieves were looking for money, throwing a lot of things from the shelves onto the floor. A lot of items were missing which we are still trying to figure out what else was stolen. However, we now that they stole our CCTV system, money, cigarettes, and goods. They even broke into the butchery next door to us, stealing meat and the petty cash that was there. I can’t understand how these thieves managed to break in and get away without our security patrol car or the police or even the security guard who is posted on the corner seeing anything.” Owner of the Syed’s Lifestyle butchery, Mohamed Raza told the Laudium Sun, “I was surprised when I received a phone call from my brother-in-law at around seven in the morning informing me that there was a break-in at the butcher and upon my arrival to the store, I found that the ceiling was ripped open and the CCTV system was ripped out, and a number of items from the premises were stolen. This problem with crime is that it is a major set-back for all businesses in the area. Almost every day we hear about crime committed in the area. Just when will all this stop I do not now, but I hope that it will be soon. It seems that crime in the areas that are not gated is on the increase and I think that it would be better if we gate the entrances in and out of Laudium, instead of each area doing its own thing. Meanwhile we have no option but to carry on with business as we need to earn a living.” According to Rezaul, the security guard from Ndizani Security known as Puaki, who was posted on the cnr of 13th Avenue and Jewel Street near the two shops claimed that five thieves in a ‘blue car’ accosted him in the early hours of the morning with two remaining with him outside after having him tied and the other three went in the direction of the two businesses that were broken into. However CCTV footage from one of the nearby homes showed the security guard going towards Gem Street and only returning an hour later. Another CCTV footage showed the guard going to the nearby Mosque and talking to the security guard there, the guard was then spotted talking on a cellphone presumably belonging to the guard at the mosque. When asked why he did not report the matter immediately to his company after the thieves left, the security guard told Rezaul that he didn’t have a cellphone.
Responding to the Laudium Sun as to why the security guards do not have the necessary equipment including means of communication, one of the directors who refused to give his name from Ndizani Security said, “We are still waiting to hear from the security guard of what actually
happened, for now I do not know what is happening and he is off duty.” CPF chairperson, Shaheen Wahab confirmed to the Laudium Sun that 5 Malawians living on Pearl Street and who were spotted driving a ‘blue car’ by the Laudium CPF on Thursday night (August 8), were arrested by the local police for further investigations concerning the two break-ins and for being undocumented. “The five were however released on bail” Shaheen said.