BARBERTON – The recent break-in at Mountainview Primary School in Burgerville, brings to five the number of schools targeted by criminals during the Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown.
Teachers reporting for administrative duty this morning discovered that the school’s tuck shop had been burgled.
Unconfirmed reports indicate that the culprits made off with a single deep fryer, chip cutter, double deep fryer and miscellaneous stock.
A teacher at the school, Hester Viljoen said, “At this stage, the theft has been reported and the forensics unit is busy lifting prints on the scene.
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“We will be having a meeting with the SGB tomorrow after which more information will be made public.”
According to the Mpumalanga Department of Education, of the 72 burglary and vandalism cases reported in the province, four were in Barberton.
These were Kamhola Secondary School, Sikhutsele Primary School, Emjindini Secondary School and Ngwane Primary School.
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In light of this, the MEC for education, Bonakele Majuba, and the MEC for community safety and security liaison, Gabisile Shabalala, will be visiting a few of these schools tomorrow.
The purpose of the assessment will be to determine how the criminals gained entry, assess the damage and formulate a strategy to ensure that teaching and learning is not disrupted.
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This is especially vital as learning was interrupted after an almost five-week-long period during service delivery protests in the area earlier this year.
