Police unable to close spout on tap thieves

Laudium seems to be a haven for thieves of all kinds, who have no problem in stealing anything they can lay their hands on, even mere plants from gardens, and water taps and copper pipes from outside yards.
Last Monday, a resident from Taj Street reported his tap being stolen from his garden during the course of the night. Just previous to that, three neighbors on Aquamarine Street, discovered that their copper water pipes and garden taps had been stolen, all seemingly during the same time. The discovery was made after the neighbors communicated with each other, enquiring if the other had seen anyone suspicious in the area.
One of the neighbours, Neil Dean (52) of Aquamarine Street, told the Laudium Sun, “It was Saturday morning when I got up and walked outside through my side kitchen door to get some fresh air, by taking a short walk, which I usually do on a Saturday. Whilst outside, I didn’t notice anything amiss and after my walk, when as I just entered our yard and before I could get into the house, my mom called me into the house, saying that there was no water in the taps. So I went back outside to check the lever of the water mains pipe, because now and again kids passing by, play with that and turn the water off. I assumed that could be the problem, thus there was no water. When I went out, I saw that the lever was turned down indicating that the water mains were closed. So I opened the tap, thinking the problem was now solved. However, to my surprise water started gushing from the yard. When I went to the spot where water was gushing, I noticed that the garden tap was missing and that copper pipes feeding water into our home had been stripped. I suspect that the thieves had jumped over my gate during the early part of the morning. I then quickly ran out to close the water mains pipe and my neighbour Mutry Boola was standing in his yard. He could see that I was upset and asked me if everything was okay. I told him about our tap and copper pipes had been stolen and I was stunned when he told me that his water tap had also been stolen during the night. Later that afternoon I learnt that another neighbour also discovered that his taps were stolen, also during the same night. It is so disgusting that these thieves have the nerve to steal taps and copper pipes, not even concerned if there are CCTV cameras or dogs in our yards. And the worst part is that we, in the neighborhood, never thought of building high walls or erecting high palisade fencing all these years, as we believed all along that our neighborhood was quite safe. But, lately, petty crime has been on the increase in our area. If it’s not the dustbins getting stolen, then its our taps or copper pipes. Our fear is that next the thieves could enter our homes, as it is said that thieves start with petty theft and if they get away with that, then they go for bigger items. I plead to the Laudium police to please make it their duty to patrol our area more often, because now we are feeling really unsafe. It is also distressing that whilst we are asked to observe the curfew, these thieves are having a field time late at night. I believe that the thieves are selling the stolen items for a few rand in Whiteblocks. I have now replaced the missing pipes and taps with plastic ones.” Neil added that when they went to the Laudium Police Station to lay a complaint, they were told that as the suspects were not known, there was no point in laying a charge.