Thieves continue to prey on residents and businesses, without fear, targeting anyone and everyone. Nothing or no one is spared from the merciless criminals, be it big or small businesses, rich or poor, small homes or big homes, Indians or Africans, locals or foreigners, old or young, religious premises or shebeens. All are targets of greedy thieves, with the attacks taking place even during curfew times.
In a recent incident, the owner of a small business, who has been severely affected and struggling to stay afloat, since the lockdown regulations due to Covid-19, that were put in place by President Cyril Ramaphosa last March, has become a victim of crime. With many people out of jobs and the economy taking a dip, many small businesses have closed doors due to lack of business and higher running expenses. The small business that was targeted, is based on 15th Avenue, in Laudium and has been struggling to break even. Now the business is faced with an additional financial burden, due to greedy thieves breaking-in and stealing all stock in sight.
Kogie Cantasamy (60), who runs a pastry and samoosa shop, told the Laudium Sun, of her shock after arriving at her business last Wednesday. “On Tuesday late afternoon, I locked my shop as normal and went home at 5pm, after I had done my orders for the day. I make samoosas and other pastries. My stock to make dough, such as flour and oil, all stay locked up in my shop. The next morning, Wednesday, at around 7am, when I got to my shop, I was so shocked and I immediately started to sob, after I saw that the dry wall that is placed outside the gate that secured my shop, had been damaged and left with a huge hole. I immediately sensed that it was the work of thieves, but I tried to think on the bright side and hoped that maybe, just maybe they had tried to get into the shop, but failed, as I have burglar gates securing the dry wall. But, to my dismay, these nasty thieves were able to break the gate open and get in. When my staff members went in, they got so shocked and screamed for me. The thieves had stolen my gas stove, my stock of flour and oil, various utensils and even an extension cord, etc. I run this small business in order to give me some income, as we are living in such tough times. Now, these thieves have really set me back. I went to ask for CCTV footage from the shop next door. They helped me by showing me the footage. We saw four guys at around 1am, these nyaopes who spent almost an hour trying to break into my store, until they finally managed to get in. I think they were a bit smart, because after they broke in, they pasted paper to close the hole that they made in the dry wall, so that if anyone was passing by, they would not notice anything. I am very disappointed though, because during curfew hours, no one should be walking around. On the footage, you could see that this street was like a ghost town. There were no cars that passed nor, surprisingly were there any police patrols or anyone walking throughout that entire hour that these criminals were trying to break in. I have not even opened a case with the police, because what’s the point? It’s a waste of time! The police will come back and say that they did not find any suspects. It is very difficult to be as old as I am and have to work hard. I wake up early in the morning to work for my family, even though the business isn’t making much since the lockdown. It’s so upsetting that these thieves have the attitude that they can make easy money through our hard-earned money and work.”
Sergeant Simon Chokoe of the Laudium SAPS said, “It is very disappointing that some among the community do not see the need to report a burglary, based on previous experience or a perception of the police department. I would like to encourage residents to come forward and report any problem they have with police work, either to me or the Station Commander.”
