Pretoria – Gauteng Eucation member of the executive council (MEC) Panyaza Lesufi has on Friday, condemned the burglary in several schools in the province’s Sedibeng region.
Lesufi has appealed to communities to provide police with information regarding the criminal acts, and urges the police to act swiftly to apprehend the perpetrators.
He said criminals took advantage of the current lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19) and school holidays to break-in and vandalise five Gauteng schools – Mofolo Primary School in Evaton, Tsokodibane Primary School in Evaton, Beverly High School in Evaton, Katleho Impumelo Primary School in Orange Farm, and Dinokaneng Secondary School in Evaton.
Equipment and school nutrition groceries were stolen during the burglaries.
“These incidents are indicative of a trend to take advantage of school holidays to rob schools. In the context of the current lockdown, the department of community safety has been alerted to intervene in what seems to be a well-orchestrated criminal activity against the schools,” said Lesufi.
“The members of the community that reported the incidents should be congratulated and the [SA Police Service] SAPS should be thanked for the speedy response.”
The MEC also urged community members to avoid buying stolen goods.
The Gauteng department of education said crimes of this nature “undermine proper functioning of schools” and require collaborative effort to detect, prosecute and eliminate.
All the cases have been reported to the police for investigation.
South Africa is under a 21-day lockdown imposed by President Cyril Ramaphosa amidst the spread of Covid-19.