Another province hit by school burglaries and vandalism

Some 26 schools in the Northern Cape have been either broken into or vandalised during the national Covid-19 lockdown.

Northern Cape education MEC Mac Jack has expressed concern over the ''alarming high rate of theft and vandalism incidents''.

''We condemn these barbaric acts of vandalism and burglary incidents in the strongest terms,” Jack said in a statement.

''These incidents happened amid the national lockdown period wherein communities have been instructed to stay at home to avoid the spread of the Covid-19.''

Thieves broke into the Petrusville High School in the Pixley Ka Seme district and stole groceries that were stored for the school's feeding scheme.

The department's spokesperson, Geoffrey van der Merwe, said that the administration office and the principal's office at a farm school near Carnarvon were vandalised and they suspected that it was a school cleaner.

''It is alleged that the cleaner unlocked the doors and removed the personal computer,  ransacked the principal’s office and destroyed other stuff.''

At the Willie Theron Primary School in De Aar, thieves made off with the toilet roof.

Van der Merwe said that police caught burglars red-handed attempting to break into Upington High School.

In Gauteng, 22 schools were either broken into or vandalised and these included four schools in Soshanguve, Pretoria, that were torched.