Johannesburg - Scores of high school and primary school pupils have been left in the lurch after a company contracted to roll out e-learning equipment was burgled and about 2 000 tablets and electronic equipment estimated at R2 million were stolen.
MIB Technology, a software development company, has been working with the government on the paperless classrooms initiative and was due to begin delivering e-learning equipment over the next few weeks, starting on Friday.
The equipment was supposed to be delivered to 70 public and private schools across the country. Around 10pm on Tuesday, five men broke into the MIB Technology building in Bramley, Joburg.
The burglary continued into the early hours of Wednesday, according to MIB Technology’s accounts executive, Lwandolwethu Qasha.
The Star has viewed the CCTV footage showing the burglars overriding the security gate.
Two men are seen pulling into the MIB Technology driveway between 12.30am and 1.30am on Wednesday. It is suspected that it was then that they began loading the e-learning equipment.
“They took their time… They eventually left at around 3am, according to the footage,” Qasha said.
“The whole place was completely ransacked when we got to work on Wednesday,” Qasha said, pointing to where two doors leading into the building had been ripped and broken apart from the inside.
“They gained entry through the upper-office windows and then let their accomplices into the building.
“They sat around and were drinking cooldrinks from the office while they robbed us. The biggest question we all have is how they knew exactly where everything was; they even cut all the alarm cables.”
Qasha added that laptops, hard drives and TVs were also among the stolen items.
The software company’s major concern was the presence of a police vehicle that frequently drove past the building while the crime was being committed.
In the CCTV footage, a clearly marked SAPS vehicle can be seen driving around at similar times to when the gang entered and left the building.
Around 3am, the SAPS vehicle drives past the building again as one of the gang’s vehicles drives out without stopping or questioning the occupants.
“It makes us wonder if the police were directly involved in this,” MIB Technology chief executive officer Vivian Naidoo said.
He and his team reported the attack to the police, where the CCTV footage of the SAPS vehicle was also shown.
“They (the burglars) knew exactly what they were looking for. We have private investigators examining the CCTV footage as well as the police.”
Naidoo said the Prestigio-manufactured tablets were being loaded with educational software and other installations which MIB Technology had developed.
Alexandra police spokesman Warrant Officer Moses Maphakela confirmed that a case had been opened.
“We are still looking for the suspects, and the police will continue to investigate,” he said, without commenting further.
In the past few months, digital classroom equipment has been a target
for criminals.
In July, R410 000 worth of smartboards, laptops and desktops were stolen from Phafogang Secondary School in Rockville, Soweto.
In another incident in February, a gang allegedly broke into Steve Biko Secondary School outside Pretoria and stole 40 state-issued tablets.
Speaking on behalf of the Gauteng Education Department, Phumla Sekhonyane said break-ins at schools would not stop the department from continuing with the paperless classroom programme.
“The department views this break-in as a barbarous act, carried out by nothing but thugs who seek to reverse the gains this government has made. No amount of thuggery will deter our efforts,” she said.
The Star