AUTHORITIES are urging people to take precautionary measures to secure premises as empty schools and places of worship are being targeted by criminals during lockdown.
Blue Security community and media liaison officer, Andreas Mathios, said theer had been over 30 incidents of trespassing and theft experienced at schools and places of worship in and around Durban in April alone.
ALSO READ: Remain Vigilant And Avoid Covid-19 Scams
“With little activity onsite, it makes the premises attractive to opportunistic criminals. Two recent incidents happened this past weekend,” said Mathios.
On Friday, a case of breaking and entering was interrupted at a school in Pinetown in the early hours of the morning and stolen goods were recovered by a Blue Security officer.
“The officer had been responding to an alarm activation at the school and was advised by the security guard onsite that an intruder was on the premises.
According to Mathios, the suspect emerged from the rear of the property while the officer and security guard were searching the school grounds.
“The suspect had been trying to escape with a school projector which he then dropped when he was chased. The projector was recovered. However, the suspect fled the scene. Further investigation revealed that the intruder had removed a front window in order to gain access to the school’s interior,” said Mathios.
The second incident took place in the Berea area on Sunday.
“The legislation preventing learners from attending school and citizens from attending places of worship has meant that some educational facilities and churches are increasingly becoming statistics of crime,” reported Mathios
He said there is no set pattern or time of day that these acts of trespassing, breaking and entering and theft from premises are occurring.
Last month crime statistics, however, showed that there had been a decrease in violent crimes during the lockdown.
*Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news
Dear reader,
As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za)
Do you want to receive alerts regarding this and other Highway community news via Telegram? Send us a Telegram message (not an SMS) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5409.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts.
