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1 November 2013
Robbers embark on careful school robbery in Bela Bela
Police ask for public help to recapture rapist
Page 2 School Sanitation project lanches One of the smaller safes that was also damaged. Photo: Justin Steyn
The badly damaged lock of the main safe. Photo: Justin Steyn The hole of the ceiling which the criminals used to enter the school’s admin offices. Photo: Justin Steyn Justin Steyn An open window, the smell of burnt metal and a displeased atmosphere filled the offices at Hoërskool Warmbad on Monday 28 October — the aftermath of a carefully planned robbery that apparently took place on an evening two days before. “I was at home late on Friday night when I received a call from the security company, Burglar Alert Security (BAS), guarding the premises and the operator said that my office at the school had been opened” explained the school’s headmaster Spikkels de Wet in an interview. “I then told the operator to send a response vehicle to check on the school as I am never at office at that time of night” he said. De Wet said that the operator did not report back to him and it was not
until the following (Saturday) evening that he was informed by a teacher about the damaged roof of the school’s head office. But it was not until the Monday morning that De Wet and the rest of the staff of the school realized the extent of the school’s loss. De Wet explained that the hole in the roof had all been part of a plan to rob the school’s financial offices. He said that a hole had been made on the roof of the school which the criminals used to crawl through the ceiling and gain access to their offices. “Another hole had been made in our admin office which the criminals used to enter the area before they disconnected the alarm system,” said De Wet. He further said that the school’s main safe had been precisely cut, supposedly with a grinder, which allowed them to gain access to the money inside. Two smaller safes inside had also
been cut into and some of the items removed. An estimated R10 000 had been taken from the school’s safe. The BEAT was told that the criminals had no interest in taking property such as computers and other valuables but they had taken the video surveillance system in De Wet’s office before fleeing the scene. “The surveillance system, which I use to monitor the school had been taken from my office, probably because they were afraid to be seen on camera, and then used one of my office windows to escape,” said De Wet. He had since instructed BAS to remove their alarm system from the premises and the school has made security in the school a main priority. No suspects had been arrested and the investigation is still ongoing.
Page 10 Futher investigation into ruined Matric farewell
Page 11 Bela Bela to host marathon
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