Third incident shows definite trend
The police are hot on the heels of the thieving couple who stole thousands of Rands worth of electronics at Middelburg Christian School, and allegedly also struck at Gansiekeur in June last year.
It is the third incident where criminals have entered local school grounds, posing as parents, to steal valuables from classrooms and offices.
Ms Hannelie van Dam, principal, where security is exceptionally tight, says a couple, which she identified as the same couple that looted classrooms and an office at Middelburg Christian School, literally posed as parents of a two year old seeking daycare for their toddler.
She says she explained to them that she didn’t have space for the child, and referred them to a very good school around the corner from Gansiekeur.
“When the man asked me to use the bathroom, and after I directed him to the toilet, the woman kept grabbing my attention, asking a barrage of questions,” Ms van Dam told the Middelburg Observer on Tuesday.
Between the bathroom and the lobby, the man slipped into Ms Van Dam’s office and grabbed her Samsung S5 from her desk.
The couple then made their exit.
Upon realising her phone was gone, Ms Van Dam immediately checked the CCTV footage and phoned the police.The case went cold until Friday when Ms Van Dam saw the footage taken at Middelburg Christian School.
On Tuesday, the Middelburg Observer contacted the SAPS to hear whether anyone had come forward with credible information on the identities of the couple caught on MCS’s CCTV cameras.
Captain Khanyisile Zwane said that a number of informants came forward, some of whom even provided the police with clear photos of the man and woman, taken from their Facebook profiles.
A miscommunication however led to the police not acting on the tip-offs “Apparently no formal complaints were laid by the Middelburg Christian School following the incident,” Captain Zwane said.
The Middelburg Observer however provided her with the CAS number, which is sent via SMS to complainants when a docket for investigation is opened.
After tracing the CAS number, captain Zwane confirmed that a case was opened shortly after the thefts, during the police visit to the school.
The Observer also told her about the couple’s possible connection to the Gansiekeur incident, after which she promised to get the detective working on the Gansiekeur case, to take Ms Van Dam’s statement.
“The leads are hot and the crime duo’s days are counted,” captain Zwane guaranteed, despite the weekend’s confusion.
• Thapelo Masilela (27), was arrested on 19 February, the day his picture was posted on the front page of the Middelburg Observer for a similar theft at Laerskool C.R. Swart, where he stole the laptop of principal, Mr Pieter Fouché, out of his office.
Masilela also posed as a parent, entering the school yard at 13:30, when the gates were opened for adjournment.
