Western Cape school reported 48 incidents of burglary and/or vandalism during the December holidays

The Western Cape Department of Education has appealed to the public to help it end the vandalism of schools, after 48 incidents of burglary and/or vandalism were reported.

According to the Department, 42 schools were vandalised during the December/January school holidays. An increase from the 34 schools that were vandalised in the province the previous year.

This is despite the provincial education Department providing subsidies for holiday security at 439 schools.

Stolen items include computers, windows and doors.

Western Cape MEC for Education, David Maynier, says the public must always report suspicious activity near schools.

" The total cost of repairs and replacing stolen property is still being calculated. It is disappointing that our department and our schools will once again have to divert funding that could have been spent on the educational needs of our learners to cover this entirely unnecessary cost.

Arrests were made in relation to some of the incidents, and we will closely monitor the progress of these cases", said Maynier . 

The MEC has also encouraged witnesses to report these incidents to apprehend of retrieve stolen property.

" We again make this appeal to the public: do not underestimate your ability to thwart crime in our schools. If you see something, speak up. There must be no place where the criminals targeting our schools can hide", he added.

by Everngelista Muza