LIMPOPO – THUGS broke into the Muthuhadini Combined School in Mpheni village near Elim and stole all the laptops last Wednesday night.
Spokesperson for the Waterval Police, Const Cynthia Ndou, said the suspects broke the window and entered the computer centre where they vanished with all the laptops.
“We have opened a case of burglary and theft. The suspects are still unknown and not yet arrested. We also want to warn people not to buy stolen property, as this is also a crime,” Ndou said.
Muthuhadini Combined School is one of the schools that benefited from the former mayor of Vhembe, Falaza Mdaka’s mission to bridge the digital divide in 2008 when he distributed 89 computers to 13 deserving schools in the area.
The school principal, Daniel Lishavha, said all 16 new HP laptops were stolen. He said the laptops were locked inside the mobile trolley in the office. The thieves cut off the camera security system before taking what they wanted, and also took the security camera server with them.
“It is affecting our lessons because those laptops were helping our 1 723 learners as there was free wi-fi installed. Other schools in this area have also lost their laptops and the perpetrators used the same method,” Lishavha said.
Last September the police arrested six suspects including a Senegalese national for allegedly stealing 20 computers at a primary school in Kuruleni village near Louis Trichardt. The case against them continues.
