There seems to be no end to the ongoing crime in the Laudium area and with the chair of the Laudium CPF, Shaheen Wahab, seemingly more concerned about posing in front of the camera and being the ‘body guard’ of Cllr Patel, residents no longer feel safe, hence the growing number of neighborhoods in the area closing off streets.
While the Laudium CPF which is supposed to be addressing the concerns of the community with the police, still does not release weekly crime stats or even crime trends, the community remains in the dark concerning the true reflection of crime in the area.
Nevertheless, in one of the latest reports of crime received by the Laudium Sun, for stats purposes, a home on Bengal Str, Ext 3, while the owners were away. The break-in which occurred last Friday morning (May 30), shortly before noon, is believed to have been carried out after thieves lifted the front gate off its track. After gaining entry onto the property, the thieves, believed to be a pair of black males, broke a window to gain entry into the house.
few items, after the alarm went off.
Collien Mashegwane, the caretaker of the house on Bengal Street, told the Laudium Sun, “I wasn’t at the house at the time of the break-in, because I had go somewhere, but it was nearby. From where I was, I heard the alarm go off and I immediately knew something was wrong. Without wasting any time, I ran straight back to the house. As I approached, I saw two black guys running away from the house. I suspect it was two black males who broke into the house. Fortunately, because I arrived so quickly, they didn’t manage to steal much. I believe they panicked after hearing the alarm and then when they saw me, they fled the scene. It seems that the thieves only managed to steal some clothes from the bedroom. It was very fortunate that I got there when I did — if I had come any later, they could have stolen a lot more.”
Mashegwane, who was not far from the
house at the time, said he rushed back to the house when he heard the alarm.
Reza Bassier, the owner of the house, told the Laudium Sun, “We were not at home at the time, but I’m grateful to my caretaker who responded quickly and managed to scare the thieves away. The thieves stole some expensive clothes, but thankfully weren’t able to take much more. This is the third break-in at my property. Thieves have tried to break in before and now we’ve really had enough. We’ve decided to sell our house because we no longer feel safe living here. Laudium has become extremely dangerous — every single day there is criminal activity and it feels like the criminals are taking over. That’s it for me. I don’t want to stay in this place any longer.”
Fazila Abdulla of Bengal Street, told the Laudium Sun, “Crime on our street is very high but I believe that if we have consistent police patrols — both day and night — we could tackle the crime more effectively. Crime in Laudium is bad overall and just like in other parts of South Africa, we know crime exists. But as a community, we must take action. If we do nothing, the criminals will only become stronger. That’s why I believe we need a proper community strategy to deal with the crime. Most importantly, we must never give in. Laudium is a beautiful place to live in and we need to stay united and take firm action so that these criminals don’t get the upper hand and find it easy to do whatever they want.”
community must come up with a strategy and stand united to tackle crime so that the criminals don’t get the upper hand to do whatever they want.