The thief has been filmed at various occasions by CCTV cameras wearing a hoodie and carrying a backpack. Footage of the man silently climbing over boundary walls stealing items such as gas bottles and household items from residents’ yards, has been shared on neighbourhood watch WhatsApp groups at various occasions.

Although it is unknown whether the break-ins are carried out by a single person or more people, it is believed that the man likely works on his own and is familiar with the neighbourhoods. According to the Tzaneen Community Policing Forum (CPF) vice chairperson, Jaco Rautenbach, they suspect that the culprit is the same person who has been active in the area since last year. “This year alone more than 20 cases were reported to the police.”

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“We have seen him on CCTV in Arbor Park, but we do not know who he is. We believe the same person is also active in Aqua Park and unfortunately, he knows the area very well. He disappears in a matter of seconds,” he said. “We constantly follow up on information and intelligence and he will be caught eventually. He was almost caught recently, but has been less active for the past few weeks,” added Rautenbach. Spokesperson for the police in Tzaneen, Sgt Maurice Nkhwashu, told the Herald that the police are aware of the break-ins, and they are trying their best to arrest the suspect.

“We investigate all the cases to try and see if we can link them to the same person. “For now, we cannot confirm that all the break-in cases are linked to one suspect. These incidents have been ongoing for quite some time now, we want to make sure that justice is served to all residents who are victims of these break-ins,” he said. Rautenbach and Nkhwashu appealed to residents to report all break-ins to the police to make sure that the appropriate resources are allocated.