NEARLY a year after two consecutive hard hitting break-ins, the Centre for Fine Art Animation and Design has been hit again.
Dr Nanda Sooben woke up to loss once again after receiving news that his art school was targeted by stealthy robbers in the early hours of Worker’s Day (Friday). This was the third burglary at the Morningside art school in at least a year and Sooben is at a complete loss.-
“It is heartbreaking, you don’t know whether to laugh or cry,” he said sitting at his desk looking at the broken cupboards left behind by the thieves.
“This time they drove into the back gates and the motion sensors were put off. A neighbour saw three guys come in a white van, he saw them working on breaking into the back door.
“The property is a national monument and has beautiful doors with glass windows untouched for 114 years that were broken to get in through the back door which is our main entrance.The alarm went off when the men gained entry to the building.
“We believe the men went to the reception and stole the CCTV footage before they took Apple Macs and PCs including our admin computer, which had students’ data. Two HD video cameras were also taken and the master keys,” he said.
Last year, after the two robberies, the design school lost 16 computers many of which were sophisticated Apple Macs. “Unfortunately the insurance only replaced 10 computers and our premiums shot up. It’s sad that now we have to replace doors and windows that are over a hundred years old.”
Larina Naicker, manager at the school said the ramifications of a break-in at a college were quite disturbing but after a quick re-shuffling of class rooms, students were busy with tests on Monday morning. “We had to secure the building over the long weekend which was difficult but we managed to get the locks changed and a guard here. We still have to deal with a lot of paperwork and insurance issues.”
“We are going to review our security but I’m afraid it’s going to change the look and feel of this beautiful old building,” she added.-
After the third burglary within a year, Sooben said he felt completely violated. “Yes, they have taken material things, but the way they trashed the place is disgraceful, especially because its an educational institution. Breaking furniture while ransacking was completely unnecessary and shows total disrespect!”
Sooben appealed to the community to contact the school on 031 240 8400 with any news of people with high tech Apple Macs or PCs on the market as the specialised computers for design cannot be used by the man on the street.
