Once more crime in Laudium continues unabated, with thieves breaking into any place in the area, that their heartless hearts desire, seemingly without having any fear of being arrested by our local cops and more so without any fear of being prosecuted or found guilty in a South African court. It is clear that no place or person in Laudium is safe from being attacked by thieves, as the past few months have clearly shown that not only homes and businesses have been targeted by thieves, but also religious places, schools and even the cemetery, have all been affected by crime.
Adding to the latest stats for Laudium, the local library has now been targeted by thieves, and has once more caused an uproar amongst the community, more so as the library is being used by underprivileged youngsters doing online learning. Due to Covid, most higher learning institutes have suspended the attending of classes physically, and are now giving lectures online or via virtual classes. Thus, the theft of computers from the Laudium Library on 4th Ave, last Thursday, was a great disappointment to many learners depending on the computers for their lectures.
Patrick Moela, the security guard at the Laudium Community Library, told the Laudium Sun, “When I came on duty in the morning, at around 8am, everything on the outside of the building looked fine to me and there were no signs of any break-in, so I went about my usual routine. However, when the librarian, Shakun, opened the doors, we were all shocked to find that the computers inside the library were missing, which meant they were stolen. I just cannot understand how it was possible for the thieves to enter, as the front gate and outside gate were locked. What was also very strange was that no doors or windows leading into the library were broken or tampered with and even the outer gates to the property were intact. There was no sign of a break in! The only thing I can think of, is that the thieves had keys to the library or they were very professional and knew how to open the locks with skeleton keys, or it might have been an inside job.”
Erasmia resident Muhummad Kauthar Razak said, “It is so sad to see the poor state of our public service institutions, who have not bothered to respond to the theft at the library, which mostly the poor people in the area depend so much on, for studying via the computers. Many of those unemployed also use the computers for doing their CV’s etc. Since the time the incident occurred, till now, no action has been taken to replace the stolen computers and the other equipment stolen from the library and the police have also not made any arrests. Especially during this Covid period, we see the need for computers and online learning, much more. Our students are being disadvantaged. A serious effort needs to be taken to upgrade and bring our community library to the modern age and cater for our students. Besides the computers and other equipment being stolen, the library also needs more computers because of the high demand of e-learning. The response to crime and under resourcing at the library needs to be addressed effectively. I personally visited the library in August to complete some work and research, but I could not use any of the computers, as they were being used by the students. We need much better service delivery, than we have now. I just hope that the police can catch the thieves soon, and get them jailed and recover the computers and stolen equipment.”
The head Librarian, at the Laudium Library, Shakun Lalloo, said, “I do not have any comments, this is an internal matter.”
