Despite the local police being well aware of unending crime committed by many nyaopes and those coming from outside areas, freely walking the streets of Laudium, under the pretext of looking for a job and food, police are yet to introduce regular stop and searches, as one of the measures to curb this ongoing problem facing law abiding residents on an almost daily basis. Lately, there seems to be an increase in crime committed by many of these street walkers, in the Laudium Extension 3 area, around Himalaya and Bengal Streets. There have also been various residential and business robberies in parts of Laudium and Erasmia, with the local CPF remaining silent on this matter and mostly coming to life, when Councilor Essop intervenes.
In a recent attack on a resident by these ‘street walkers’, Shenaaz Soomar, of Himalaya Street was attacked early last Thursday, as she was about to leave her home. Shenaaz told the Laudium Sun, “On Thursday early morning, there was no water in our area. So, I had to go out to see where I could get water from. I was about to leave my house and thus went out to open my gate. As I just opened the gate, I was surprised to see two black guys come out of nowhere, right by me. Then, one of them stuck a knife towards my stomach, and the other held a brick in his hand, threatening to throw it at me if I did not do as they said. They demanded that I hand over all valuables that I had on me. They grabbed my gold chain that I was wearing and even pulled my ring from my left finger. They then tried to pull the ring on my right finger off, but failed as it was too tight. These guys were violent and ruthless. They stole my watch and other items that I had on me. I was terrified as I believed that they would not have hesitated to hurt me. I have often read in your newspaper about Laudium residents being attacked by guys walking the streets, but I never ever thought it would happen to me. Imagine, from desperately wanting to go out to look for water, I was desperately praying that my life be spared. While I was struggling for water, I had to face such a terrifying armed robbery. I don’t know how to live in this place anymore. So many people who can afford it are moving out from the area due to safety concerns. I don’t know if it is because of desperation or lack of jobs, but the crime is exponentially increasing in our area. Whatever it is, something has to be done urgently to stop such crime, whereby our lives are threatened. I’m grateful that the detective handling my case was reassuring me and told me that if I see anyone suspicious, I should inform them immediately, as they are working on the case. I just hope that they arrest these guys so that we can be a bit safer. I’m still traumatized and I don’t know how people are just there to grab things for free from us.”
Sergeant Simon Chokoe, of the Laudium SAPS, said, “Crime in the area seems to be increasing and I urge residents to take precautions and be more vigilant around the area. If there is anything or anyone that seems suspicious, they must inform the police, as we have increased police patrols in the area.”
