Coke truck goes flat after battery theft

Laudium residents are concerned that more and more petty crime is taking place in the area, more so during late nights and curfew time.
Residents are yet again appealing to the police to beef up patrols, especially at night, as they say there is a noticeable influx of nyaope addicted youth frequenting the streets of Laudium, desperate to get their hands on anything they can steal, just to get a few Rand, so that they can buy their next “fix”.
One of the petty crimes that is prevalent in the area, is battery theft from vehicles, which continues to be a problem for residents, even though one alleged buyer of these stolen batteries has been named many times to the police. Just recently another battery theft incident was brought to the attention of the Laudium Sun. Laudium Soft Drinks on 2nd Ave was targeted by thieves last Tuesday. Manager, Edward Rampedi told the Laudium Sun, “According to the CCTV footage, early last Tuesday morning, just past midnight, at approximately 00h30, two guys jumped over the wall at the back of our yard and stole a truck battery from the Nissan ud 4 ton truck that I drive, to make soft drink deliveries. The thieves obviously knew that no one was on the property at the time, because they didn’t seem to be in a hurry. When I arrived at work at 08h00 on Tuesday morning, I noticed that the truck bonnet wasn’t closed properly and that it had been tampered with. I immediately knew something was wrong. After checking, I saw that the battery had been removed. We have reported the matter to the Laudium police. Hopefully they can catch the guys who did this. What we find disturbing is that these criminals are moving around so easily during the very early hours of the morning, which is curfew time.” Owner of the building, which houses Laudium Soft Drinks, Goolam Ebrahim said, “The guys who stole the battery who we spotted on CCTV, were wearing masks and hoodies, so they were unidentifiable. We do have night guards, but they were probably patrolling around the building, and were at the other end of the property at the time of the incident.”
Laudium SAPS spokesperson, Sergeant Simon Chokoe said, “A case of theft of a battery has been opened and we are currently investigating the matter. We are doing our best to curb crime in Laudium. If anyone has any information on this matter, please call the Laudium Police Station on 012 374 9847.”

A truck battery was stolen from the backyard of Laudium Soft Drinks on 2nd Ave, Laudium.

Owner of the building, Goolam Ebrahim, said that there are night guards on duty, but they were probably patrolling around the building, at the time of the incident.