Another week has gone by, another week of crime in Laudium, which seemingly has no end as criminals continue to attack residents in their homes and businesses, without any fear of being arrested by the local police.
From theft out of cars to theft out of homes to the theft of electric cables, criminals once again pounced on residents, more so during broad daylight, without being spotted by the police or the many private security vehicles patrolling the area.
In one of the latest incidents of crime that occurred in Laudium this past week, a Taj Street family was left devastated, after their plans to have a relaxing weekend were ruined, when thieves ransacked their home and stole a number of items including a firearm. This follows Mohammed Akmal his wife, daughter and son, leaving on Friday (Sept 30) to spend the weekend in Sun City in order to relax, after the recent two years of Covid restrictions. Although the family went away for the weekend, and were aware that Laudium is certainly not a safe place to leave one’s home unoccupied, as thieves prowling the streets are constantly looking for opportunities to pounce, the family left with peace of mind, as they had asked a family member to stay at their home whilst they were away. But, even taking that precaution, did not help, as the watchful thieves had something else up their sleeves by playing the waiting game.
Mohammed explained further to the Laudium Sun, “On Friday afternoon, my wife and I were very excited to go on holiday with our eldest son and daughter, as they had booked for us in Sun City. Knowing of the crime situation in Laudium, we were at first reluctant to go, but then we felt at ease after arranging with my cousin Mudasar Mohamed to look after our home. According to Mudasar he was at our home on Friday and Saturday, but on Sunday morning at around 9am, he decided to take a drive to the Centurion Mall to go get something different to eat and spend some time there. Mudasar told me that when he got back to our house, at around 1pm, he found the big front driveway gate wide open and as he looked towards the house he saw that the gate and door were open. So he immediately called me to find out if I had sent anyone to do maintenance on the house, as he could not understand why the doors were open. I was totally surprised and at first I thought that he was joking, but then I realized that he was serious and was very nervous when talking to me. I immediately told him that I had not given anyone permission to come and work and told him to go inside the house to check what was happening. My cousin was very nervous and told me that he was scared to go in alone, so I then told him to wait outside whilst I called the Laudium police. But, they took too long to arrive, so Mudasar somehow got the courage to go inside our house to check what was happening. Whilst walking in, he was explaining the situation to me on the phone. As he got closer, he found the front door and gate broken. When he walked into the house, he found the house ransacked. Everything was upside down and my room door, which I left locked, had been broken open. The thieves had stolen so much of our stuff. Even my firearm which was kept locked, was stolen. They even stole watches, 3 cellphones, earrings from Dubai and rings. When I heard all of this, we immediately came back home and I then opened a case with the police.”
The Laudium Sun also spoke to Manisha Lala, a nearby resident of Taj Street, who said, “Almost every day, there is a break-in, in our area. We have been living so long in Laudium, but Laudium was never like this before. It is now unsafe and is getting more dangerous by the day. Something needs to be done and our police need to take action in order to keep the community safe.”
Sergeant Chokoe of the Laudium Police confirmed that a case was opened and that it was “under investigation.”
