{"id":105979,"date":"2019-11-29T10:18:12","date_gmt":"2019-11-29T08:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/?p=105979"},"modified":"2019-11-29T11:34:58","modified_gmt":"2019-11-29T09:34:58","slug":"disabled-youths-double-crossed-burglars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/news-headlines\/2019\/11\/29\/disabled-youths-double-crossed-burglars\/","title":{"rendered":"Disabled youths double-crossed by burglars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Attendance numbers have dropped like never before as the centre in Meyer Street was burgled again over the weekend, the second break-in in less than a week, while the damage done during two previous break-ins has not even been fixed.<\/p>\n

Caretaker Rudi Mbenzi says that attendance numbers have steadily dwindled since the previous break-ins, in which several bathrooms were damaged and the centre\u2019s garage and kitchen vandalised.<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

The centre\u2019s board, which was disbanded but reinstated by the department of social services, hasn\u2019t lifted a finger to seek financial assistance to fix the state of the art centre.
\nIn its heyday it housed around 80 disabled youths every weekday, teaching them skills, supplying them with balanced home-cooked meals and keeping them entertained.<\/p>\n

On Monday, after last week\u2019s break-in, during which the main ceilings and bathroom in the house were damaged, the\u00a0Middelburg Observer\u00a0<\/i>received another despondent call from Mr Mbenzi with the news that \u201cthis time the fools really wanted to do as much damage as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n

The centre is in such dire straits that all children were ordered to stay home until further notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese children depend on us, we keep them safe and love them, if we can get the kitchen operational they can return, because the majority of them are shunned by their communities and are kept isolated and alone,\u201d Mr Mbenzi says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Despite waiting several hours for the police last Thursday, the SAPS were a no show.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the paper flagged down a police vehicle in the vicinity of OK Meyer Street that had visited the scene.
\nShortly after forensic specialists also visited the scene to gather evidence.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Residents that can alleviate the centre\u2019s immediate need for food, so that disabled youths can return, can contact Mr Mbenzi on 071 632 0788. All other donations and offers can also be negotiated with Mr Mbenzi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Middelburg Activity Centre for the Disabled is bleeding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8164,"featured_media":105983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"Gerhard Rheeder","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,2],"tags":[1497,22179,22178,22177,21617,22082,10010,12898,2291,10333],"class_list":["post-105979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news-headlines","tag-break-in","tag-break-in-at-activity-centre-for-the-disabled","tag-break-in-at-middelburg-ccentre-for-the-disabled","tag-centre-for-the-disabled","tag-crime","tag-greater-middelburg-activity-centre-for-the-disabled","tag-local-news","tag-middelburg-news","tag-robbery","tag-trusted-news"],"category_labels":{"Category":"News","SubCategory":"Local news"},"tag_labels":["break in","break in at activity centre for the disabled","break in at middelburg ccentre for the disabled","centre for the disabled","crime'","Greater middelburg activity centre for the disabled","local news","middelburg news","robbery","trusted news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}