Yet again, complaints have been received from residents in the area concerning crime still being committed during curfew hours, which they find unacceptable given that it is much easier for police to keep the streets safe, as no person or vehicle may be outdoors between 10pm and 4am without a permit or a good reason. Thus, many residents especially, the victims of crime, are asking whether police do any patrols during curfew time and if so, how many patrol vehicles are active in the area during any given time at night, as residents say that they rarely, if ever, see any police patrol vehicles passing their homes during late nights or early mornings.
In yet another incident of crime being committed during curfew hours, a Pearl Street resident described the events that took place last Thursday (August 12) between 2:00-3:00 in the early hours of the morning. Shedan Patel, an Indian national and resident of Pearl Street, told the Laudium Sun, “In the early morning of Thursday, there was a break-in at our property and my friend Raju Kapadia’s, car was broken into, Raju lives with us. It was very disappointing for us, more so as we have had a few break-ins before. But, we put in extra security measures, even adding high palisade fencing, thinking that we were now safe. But these guys still managed to get into our yard. They stole whatever they desired and seemingly were not scared if we woke up on hearing them break-in. They are so daring and dangerous. On that fateful night, they broke into Raju’s car, a white Tiida. They first cut the garage door and got it open, then they broke the back window of the Tiida on the driver’s side, to get into the car. They stole quite a few items including two cellphones (Samsung and Sony), Raju’s passport, his wife’s credit card, his bank card, R900 cash and the car battery. Raju kept things in his car as he thought it was safe at night, as the car is parked in a lock-up garage. It is very heart-breaking that after all Raju and his family have sacrificed by coming to South Africa, helping to grow this economy and at the same time supporting his family back in India, he had to go through this really traumatic experience. All his hard efforts have just disappeared like that. No trace! No one knows who these thieves are and how they can be found or arrested. What was the reason for stealing his passport which had his work permit? Now he will have to re-apply for another passport and copy of the work permit, which will cost money as he will have to pay to the government department. The same government can’t protect us from these greedy criminals. Laudium is becoming a very bad place for the residents. Something must be done urgently. We can’t live like this, where there is no place to rest and have peace of mind, even one’s own home. We need police to do 24-hour police patrols and the police must be checked also, that they are not friends with the criminals. There is poverty all over the world and worse in India. But the crime at homes is not so bad like here. In India, if criminals are caught in someone’s house stealing, the community will deal with them harshly, then the police will also deal with the criminals. But, in South Africa, it seems that our community is very scared and that our police are very corrupt.”
Sergeant Simon Chokoe, of the Laudium SAPS, said, “The case of theft from a vehicle has been opened and police are investigating the case. No arrests have been made as yet. The Laudium police are always doing patrols in the area and they will continue doing so, to ensure the safety of residents of Laudium.”
