Sesona Ngqakamba
The state-of-the-art Menzi Primary School was robbed – just a week after Gauteng’s education MEC opened the facility and asked Tsakane residents to look after it.
Now Gauteng’s education MEC has challenged the community to help to find the perpetrators by Friday or all expensive equipment at the school will have to be withdrawn.
Department spokesperson Steve Mabona said the robbery occurred in the early hours of Tuesday and added that it was alleged that two guards were tied up and locked in the strong rooms.
“The criminals broke the main volt door to access the keys of the entire school,” Mabona said.
“There is evident forceful entry on the doors of all the areas they went into,” he said.
Items stolen included 185 tablets, eight teacher laptops, two projectors and three desktop computers. A plasma TV and R500 in petty cash were also taken.
A case has been opened with Tsakane police, Mabona said.
Gauteng MEC for Education Panyaza condemned the incident and said the department would work with law enforcement agencies to bring the perpetrators to book.
“These are educational facilities, aimed at enhancing the quality of education and life of children in the township. We are extremely disappointed that criminals can disrupt the education of learners in this community.
“However, we challenge members of the community to assist and hunt the robbers, by Friday, 18 January 2019, failing which, we will have no choice but withdraw all expensive equipment from the said school,” Lesufi said.
#BackToSchool #MenziPrimary Learners at Menzi PS have been using zinc shelters and other temporary structures as classrooms since the https://t.co/C7VPePyBE4 as the first day of school kicks off, they walk in a completely different school with a sports ground.😇 (@Sesona_Ngqaks) pic.twitter.com/PvmWj6Q1Pu
— Team News24 (@TeamNews24) January 9, 2019
Since the 1990s, pupils at the school used zinc shelters and other temporary structures as classrooms. But last Wednesday – the start of the 2019 academic year – it was a different story when the newly renovated school was handed over.
The school has been equipped with 33 “smart classrooms”, two science laboratories, two computer laboratories and a library.
