Hoërskool Voortrekker was broken into on numerous occasions during January.
According to the deputy principal at the school, Gerhard Joubert, the first incident happened on January 2.
“Our alarm system was activated, and the security company went to the school where the officers searched around the premises but could not find anything wrong.
When the school’s groundsman visited the school on January 4, he realised that the hall was broken into. He also noted that our sound room was forced open. The school’s entire sound system, valued at R80 000, was stolen,” the deputy principal said.
Joubert said it seemed the suspects gained access to the school premises by jumping over the school’s palisades.
He added that a power station at the school was tampered with during the weekend of January 15 to 17.
“There was a power outage in the Boksburg CBD that weekend. On January 18, our groundsman realised that although the power was restored in the CBD the school’s power was still off. He realised when he checked our power station that the high voltage cables inside the power station, to the value of about R200 000, were stolen. The power could only be restored on January 28 as we had to wait for an electrician who was qualified to work with high voltage cables,” he said.
Furthermore, the deputy principal said on January 26 they found out there was also a break-in inside a bathroom and three classrooms.
“At least we asked our staff members to remove all valuables from their classrooms before they went on holiday. However, they did manage to steal cables. The alarm also didn’t go off because the beams were turned to face a wall during a previous break-in,” he added.
He said the break-ins are going to put financial strain on the school.
“We do have insurance, and we will have to pay for some of the losses ourselves. It’s also not nice to start a year like this,” he pointed out.
The Boksburg police confirmed the break-ins, saying these cases are being investigated, and no arrests have been made yet.
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