Crime and more crime, this is the sad reality that residents of Laudium face each week, with no sign that the area will once again be the pride of the community, where children can, without fear, play in the parks and residents can take night strolls on street sidewalks or walk to visit neighbours, without fear of being attacked by thugs.
Clearly the community is being held hostage by criminals and their freedom of movement is curbed, due to the high crime in the area. Even living behind high walls and locked doors, once regarded as a safe haven, does not help, as criminals have no fear of forcefully entering homes and attacking residents, knowing that the chances of them being caught by police and serving time in prison are very slim.
This follows yet another house break-in reported to the Laudium Sun, whereby a Taj Street family left their house for just about two hours, early last Sunday evening, only to find it ransacked when they returned. Residents are once again pleading with the police to increase patrols in the area, with the hope that this would deter criminals from breaking into homes.
Resident, Mohammed Sacoor told the Laudium Sun, “There was no one at home that evening, as my wife and I went out on Sunday evening at around 6.30pm and came back that same evening at around 9.00 pm. When we got back, everything seemed normal on the outside. However when we got into the house, we were shocked to find our cupboards in the rooms ransacked. There were a lot of items stolen, including jewellery and some cash. Thankfully we don’t keep much cash at home due to the high crime in Laudium and besides most of our payments are done via bank cards or EFT’s. We could not understand how the thieves got into our home and only after going through the house did we realise that they came inside by breaking open the side gate and forcefully opening the door. We heard from our neighbour, that there were two black guys seen near our yard. We are scared now, as this happened during the early part of the evening. It means that these thieves were not scared that someone could have seen them. I’m just grateful that they broke in whilst my wife and I weren’t at home, because they could have harmed or even killed us. We are scared to even stay in our own home, which is supposed to be our place of safety. It feels like these criminals aren’t scared of the police anymore nor are they scared of even getting caught. I plead with the police to please increase patrols in the area.”
Neighbour Manor Naidoo also of Taj Street told the Laudium Sun, “Crime is increasing by the day in Laudium and we are living in fear. The police must act and it’s also high time we from the community, stand together to fight against crime in the area.”
SAPS spokesperson Sergeant Simon Chokoe told the Laudium Sun, “We urge community members to report crime to the police and to be vigilant, as crime is on the rise in Laudium. We are doing our best to curb crime and keep all residents safe.”
