Water pipes, computer cables, fire safety equipment, and stationery were among the items thieves and vandals targeted when breaking into schools, mostly in the metro, during mid-year holidays.
The Western Cape Education Department recorded more than 30 incidents where schools were burgled and vandalised despite having upped security measures.
In one of the incidents, the theft of water pipes at Crystal High School resulted in a large portion of the school being flooded, forcing the school to close temporarily.
A group of learners had their teaching and learning time disrupted, despite being accommodated at another school while the water was drained.
While the cost of replacing and repairing the damage was still being calculated, the department has indicated that the funds will be diverted from the essential task of educating learners.
“Despite the Western Cape government subsidising holiday security at 436 schools over the June/July holidays, our schools have unfortunately once again been targeted by criminals during this period. Thankfully, only one of the incidents was considered major. While the number of schools reporting incidents is a decrease from the 42 schools affected in the same holiday period in 2022, the number of incidents remains unacceptably high, and negatively affects our children’s education,” said Western Cape Education MEC David Maynier.
He appealed to the public to help bring the criminals to book.
“Someone, somewhere, knows who the perpetrators of these crimes are. Someone, somewhere, will be offered the goods stolen from our schools. We appeal to the public to report any details about these crimes, no matter how small, to the SAPS immediately so we can shut down the criminal economy that is preying on our schools,” he said.
Cape Times