Scholar patrols will protect equipment

THE Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has expressed confidence in the scholar patrols placed by the Department of Community Safety to look after school property.

This comes after a robbery at state-ofthe-art Menzi Primary School in Tsakane, Ekurhuleni, last week where high-end electronic items were stolen.

Yesterday, Ekurhuleni police, who launched an intelligence operation, pounced on four suspects and recovered some of the stolen items in a shop in downtown Johannesburg.

Police spokesperson Captain Kay Makhubela said 22 tablets and three laptops were recovered.

Education spokesperson Steve Mabona said the department cannot afford to deviate from its mandate of providing quality education and spend money on security, as they are competing priorities.

“We trust that the Department of Community Safety is doing a good job to secure our schools.”

Mabona said the robbers also stole a hard drive loaded with vital school information.

During the robbery, it was alleged that patrol guards were ambushed by the robbers and tied up. In the past, patrol guards were criticised for being ill-equipped. Some communities even suggested armed response security to be contracted instead.

At the start of the 2019 school year, Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi visited Menzi Primary School in Brakpan to unveil 33 new smart classrooms.

The department said the main areas affected by the robbery were the administration block and the IT offices, where the tablets are charged overnight. Other stolen items included data projectors, desktop computers, a flat screen TV, and a digital video recorder.

The suspects are expected to appear in Tsakane Magistrate’s Court on Monday. | Kgopi Mabotja