It is not surprising that thieves have no morals or shame when it comes to stealing and as such, everyone and anyone living in Laudium could be a victim of crime. Over a period, petty crime committed by thieves, more so the nyaopes, looking for a few rand to keep up with their drug habits, has seen unusual items being stolen from the yards of homes; such as water taps and piping, single outdoor light fittings and even plants.
Theft from homes, businesses, schools, religious places and even the graveyard, have been reported over the past few months, yet the authorities have not done anything to curb the influx of nyaopes coming into the Laudium area. Once more, reports have been received of more thefts occurring at the Laudium Cemetery. This, despite the former MMC for Parks and Cemetries, Dana Wanneburg together with his delegation, meeting the Laudium Cemetery Committee (LCC) a few months back, concerning amongst others, the thefts of name plates and fencing and the problem of nyaopes living behind the Muslim prayer room. At that meeting, it was agreed that the council would immediately post two armed guards on a 24 hour basis to patrol the cemetery area, which has still not been implemented. Ismail Essa (Smiley) the co-ordinator of the LCC, told the Laudium Sun, “The council promised to post armed guards immediately, but we are still waiting. We explained to them our concerns concerning nyaopes and others harassing our people who come and pay respects to their deceased family members. We asked the MMC when we met him at the graveyard a few months back, if the council could replace all the missing palisade fencing that was stolen, as the open area posed a danger to our people, but he told us that they do not have the budget for it. However, he did say that they would consider our alternative proposal, that the Council reduce grave charges and then we as a community would replace the missing fencing at our own cost. We are still awaiting a response. Former Councillor Essop also put the fencing in his request under IDP projects, but the council seems to be dragging their feet to get it done. One of our members arranged to get PPC to close off the Western area of the graveyard, where most of the fencing has been stolen, with heaps of sand, just so that the nyaopes living in the bush cannot easily walk through. There is a security guard on site, but he is not effective at all, thus people just walk in without being questioned. Some nyaopes were even spotted staying behind the prayer room, from where more windows have now been stolen and even two floodlights.”
Ghuhar Younas, a regular visitor at the Laudium Cemetery told the Laudium Sun, “I come here regularly, as I come to clean the graves and check on them, then pray. But every morning when I come here, there are a whole lot of guys hanging around. It is scary. I’m not sure who is working here or not working here. Some seem to be cleaning the graves here while others are just here to demand money from the visitors. I leave flowers by the graves of my family, each time I come here, but when I come back the next day, the flowers have been stolen. When I ask the security or the guys that hang around there about the missing flowers, they have the same answer that they don’t know. So I’m not surprised that the windows to the prayer room have been stolen because of all these guys hanging around there, many of whom look like nyaopes. They have no shame. How can one steal from the cemetery?”
Dorothy Mooloo, of Agra Street West, whose house can be seen from opposite the Laudium Cemetery and who is a regular visitor to the cemetery said, “I have been complaining about the poor state of the Laudium Cemetery for years, as I regularly go there. I have been to the office at the cemetery many times, complaining about the graves that are unkempt or damaged and the fences that are missing. I also told them that the security there was ineffective and asked them to change the security guard, but nothing has happened and no one is taking me seriously. The stealing of windows and damaging of the Ghusal Khana is very disturbing, but not surprising as no one is interested in fixing our graveyards. I go there to clean the place. I sometimes clean about five graves a day, but still, it is not much. I’m even thinking of going to the higher authorities, because so far all my complaints sent to the office, have fallen on deaf ears.”
