Thieves deal a blow to school feeding scheme

Athlone North Primary School’s feeding scheme has had to rely on the kindness of the community following its latest brush with thieves.

The intruders tore through roof sheeting and ceiling boards at about 3am on Thursday August 8, according to principal Bassier Noordien.

They broke open locked kitchen cupboards - in some cases, tearing the cupboard doors off their hinges - and took R10 000 worth of supplies for the feeding scheme and an urn.

The school feeds pupils twice a day, and members of the community are now helping with the cooking until it can replenish its stolen supplies.

In April, thieves broke through the roof and stole toilet paper from the store room and cold drinks, chips and sweets from from the tuckshop.

Electrical cabling was also stolen at least once a month from the school, Mr Bassier said.

“It’s sad. We try to do the best that we can for the community. Some pupils come to school for that plate of food. It’s a sad state. It’s happening by people from the community,” he said.

Western Cape Education Department spokesman Unathi Booi said the incident had been reported to the police and he encouraged the public to report any unusual activity around school buildings.

“Communities are also encouraged to report stolen goods. This can lead to arrests,” he said.

Athlone police spokeswoman Sergeant Zita Norman said they had increased their patrols in the area because of a rise in break-ins.

“Alicedale is a quiet area and most of the break-ins occur on a weekend. No arrests have been made yet,” she said.