Crime is certainly not only affecting residents of Laudium, but the neighboring areas as well, including Erasmia.
Thus calls by both communities, for the two local police stations to have a close working relationship, are certainly justified. Whilst the Erasmia community has united in fighting crime, headed by Ismail (Smiley) Essa, by embarking on a wall project, the local CPF seems to be ineffective and voiceless in assisting in the drive to fight crime.
Whilst Erasmia police refuse to give crime stats to the public, the Laudium Sun received information of thieves breaking into and entering a home recently. The incident which took place last Wednesday, (August 3) involved three thieves entering the yard of a Peter Street home, by jumping from the wall at the back of the yard and stealing a number of items from the garage on the property.
Fakar Abaas, of Peter Street told the Laudium Sun, “On Wednesday evening we were at home. After having supper and just sitting around, I heard some noises that night, at around 11:00 pm, coming from the back portion of the property, but I did not give it much attention. Then my elder brother, who also lives in the house, came to me and said that he heard some noises in the yard and that it seemed that there were thieves in our yard. We were very scared to go out and check, because we thought what if these thieves had guns and would shoot at us if we confronted them. But then, after the noises stopped, we decided to take a chance and go out in the yard. It was dark outside, so we used the lights on our mobile phones to check what was happening. We were surprised to find three black guys, who broke into the outer building, busy stealing our goods. Both my brother and I started screaming, as we were really scared. Fortunately the three thieves ran away, by jumping the fence. We tried to catch one of them, but they were so fast. We could not even see their faces as it was very dark. The thieves managed to steal a gas stove and tyres. Fortunately we confronted them before they stole more goods.We are also glad that we were not attacked by them. We are literally fed up with all the crime in Erasmia and Laudium. There is no law and order and we hardly see the police patrolling the streets. These criminals do not seem to be afraid of the police nor of being caught. Erasmia is becoming a crime hot spot because of the many scrapyards and squatter camps in the area.”
As news of the break-in spread amongst residents in the area, many including Shaakira Farrad, also of Peter Street have asked for more police patrols. Shaakira told the Laudium Sun, “I heard of the incident that happened to our neighbor. That’s terrible news. I have been living here for about six months and I am pleading to the Erasmia Police to increase vigilance in the area, by increasing patrols, especially at night.”
Ismail (Smiley) Essa told the Laudium Sun, “We can only cut down on crime once the whole of Erasmia is walled and for that we need the support of the entire community.”
Erasmia SAPS spokesperson, Constable Tumisang Moloto was unable to provide a comment.
