VEREENIGING.– After finishing off the remains of the General Smuts High School hostels, criminals are now moving into the school grounds and targeting the classrooms.

Three thugs made a run for it, and one suspect was caught in the wee hours of October 8 after they tried to steal the school’s corrugated iron (zincs).

Speaking to Sedibeng Ster, the school’s staff member, Lucas Mazibuko, said he was called by the school’s security in the early hours of the morning, who informed him that people were trying to steal the school’s corrugated iron.

That is when he rushed to the school and realised that four men had gained access to the school premises after jumping over a wall at the back of the school.

Realising they were cornered, the suspects tried to flee.

Three managed to get away, and with the help of security guards patrolling the area, one suspect, identified as a Lesotho national, was apprehended and handed over to the police who had arrived at the scene.

Mazibuko said that a toy firearm was recovered at the scene, and the suspect was handed over to Vereeniging SAPS for further investigation.

Vereeniging SAPS spokesperson Constable Relebohile Mohapeloa confirmed the incident.

In past years, General Smuts High School operated as both a boarding and day school.

Today it serves only as a day school and its old hostels stand in ruins, reduced to empty shells after thieves stripped them of all valuable materials, including electrical wiring, copper cables, corrugated iron, and window and door frames.

The criminals are now moving into the school’s buildings.

Sedibeng Ster enquired about the incident from the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) and is awaiting a response.