PE schools under siege
Police to step up patrols after two burgled and one robbed
POLICE will randomly patrol schools in Nelson Mandela Bay following two burglaries and a robbery at Walmer schools this week. The latest incident saw a Victoria Park Grey Primary School teacher open the doors to the school yesterday to discover the administration office safe had been forced open with an angle grinder.
This comes only a day after Harvest Christian School was robbed by three gunmen on Wednesday.
Between Monday night and Tuesday morning, Theodor Herzl Primary School was also burgled.
The thieves gained entry through the roof and also used an angle grinder to open the safe, according to police.
All three schools are within a few kilometres of each other.
Police spokeswoman Colonel Priscilla Naidu said while the gangs remained at large, all police stations had been told to increase patrols.
“We suggest that schools contact their security providers to ensure that they also do random checks,” she said.
Naidu said other measures were being discussed and implemented, but declined to divulge any details.
Thieves gained entry to Victoria Park Grey Primary by breaking an administration office window.
According to police, the alarm was tampered with and the safe handle ground off.
“Suspicions were raised when a staff member arrived at 6am and found the alarm to be out of order,” Naidu said.
“The staff member opened the office door and found both the reception area and principal’s office ransacked.
“Several laptops were stolen during the incident.”
Naidu said it was not known how the thieves had bypassed the alarm.
“This is being investigated and at this stage we do not know how they did it.” At Theodor Herzl Primary, thieves gained entry through the roof and also used an angle grinder to open the safe.
“The staff member who opens the school noticed the alarm was not working as well. They then also found the reception ransacked,” Naidu said.
Asked if the two burglaries were suspected to have been committed by the same gang due to the similarities, Naidu said that would be investigated.
Harvest Christian School in Albert Road, Walmer, was robbed when gunmen held staff members hostage while forcing them to open the safe.
Three men entered the school shortly after midday on Wednesday and confronted the staff, posing as parents wanting to make a deposit.
No one was injured and the men casually walked away after the heist.
Naidu cautioned all schools to inform parents to pay their school fees online to reduce the amount of money on the grounds.
“Once money on site is reduced, the risk of being attacked is also reduced,” she said.
We suggest schools contact their security providers to ensure they do random checks