Cape Town - Concerned Langa residents, working with the Community Policing Forum, have finally bust a culprit who has been tormenting a high school in the area for the past 2 years.
This follows 13 burglary and vandalism incidents at the school during this period.
The school finally made a breakthrough in its investigations when CCTV footage showed a single culprit was behind all the incidents.
Khulani Secondary School principal Bonakele Busika said they were relieved following the culprit’s handover to the police as he had caused extensive damage to the school’s property.
Busika said the school was concerned about the spike in vandalism and burglary incidents, which led to the installation of the CCTV cameras two years ago.
The man, from Zone 16 in Langa, confessed to jumping the school’s fence and breaking into classrooms, stealing cooking pots, toilet and classroom doors and fluorescent lights, and selling them to locals and business people in the area.
Busika said the culprit initially stole security lights, which made it difficult for the school to identify him earlier.
However police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said that no suspect had been arrested, but he confirmed that a stolen wooden door had been handed in.
Vuyani Tshamlambo of the Concerned Residents of Langa said community patrollers had responded to a call by the school’s principal to identify the man involved in the burglaries.
He said he had reported the matter to Langa police and handed over the video footage, but no action had been taken. The patrollers took to the streets over the weekend and apprehended the suspect and managed to recover school property.
@Mtuzeli