Whilst serious crimes such as armed robberies, with assailants beating up their victims, have increased dramatically in the Laudium area, petty crime committed mostly by nyaopes continues to be a problem for businesses and homeowners alike.
Laudium has certainly seen an influx of unemployed people, mainly youth walking the streets and converging at car parks, hoping to get a few rand from big-hearted residents. However, some of these unemployed people have taken advantage of the good nature of residents, by attacking the very hand that feeds them. Many of the unemployed have even turned to drugs and in order to keep up with their addiction, they are determined to steal anything they can get their hands on, just to make a quick few rand to buy their drugs. Despite pleas from the community for police to take action against the nyaopes who hassle residents at almost every turn they take, police have repeatedly turned a blind eye to the problem and have not responded to the pleas of residents. This is the lesson that a local businessman learnt recently, when a nyaope stole from his Laudium business on Salmon Street last Thursday night. Pakistani national, Rizwan Hussain (29), the owner of Raja Hair Salon, told the Laudium Sun, “On Thursday night I was busy with customers. So, I had just put my hair cutting machine on the table preparing to cut the next client’s hair. Due to Covid restrictions, I sanitized the chair and then went to wash my hands before calling the next customer. But, when I came back to the chair, I noticed that the hair clipper was missing. I was stunned that within a minute, the clipper was gone. I think that one of these nyaopes stole it, as they usually come here to ask for money or food. A few minutes before the incident, one of them came inside and pretended that he was hungry. I am sure that he was the one who stole the hair cutting machine. Although the clipper is not very expensive and the theft of this one item is not such a big thing, it is worrisome that we can’t even do our work in peace, as these nyaopes can target us tomorrow again and demand money or even worse, hurt us. Once they get away with a small item, by not getting caught, they will surely go next for bigger items and even cash. Crime is getting out of control in Laudium and many customers are scared to come out when it gets dark, as criminals are freely walking around like kings. Our business has gone down because of all the crime in the area. I do not understand why the police can’t arrest these guys, because obviously it is not the first time the nyaopes are stealing in the area. We, as business people, have been complaining about the nyaopes, but it seems that the police are not interested in arresting them or even questioning them. They still roam the streets of Laudium as if they own this place. That night, we had to use just one machine, which really slowed down the business, as we had to cut a few peoples hair. Crime is really bad here and the police are not helping much. For how long should we be crying out. We left our homes in Pakistan, which is so far away to come here to South Africa and make an honest living, but all our hard work is just being stolen. This is not right.”
Sergeant Simon Chokoe, said, “A case of general theft has been opened and police will follow the leads. I urge the community to work together with the police and report the suspects. The police cannot arrest people for being in Laudium, or at least residents can report to the Metro Police if they feel the need or if there is disturbance by vagrants.”
