Holy Cross Primary School’s pupil-feeding scheme is in jeopardy after groceries worth R3000 were stolen in a burglary on Friday night.
Police suspect the burglar scaled the school’s Searle Street wall, which is about 2 metres high and topped with barbed wire.
The intruder forced open the storeroom security gate and door to get to the groceries that feed the pupils, many of whom come from poor communities.
Cape Town police spokesman Captain Ezra October said it looked like the burglar had removed plastic sheeting covering the lower part of a metal gate in Searle Street to get the food out of the school.
The Tatler was at the scene when Captain October spoke to a woman in the neighbourhood who said a man had been in the area on Saturday boasting about stealing food from the school.
The woman said the man stayed on the open fields of District Six, but so far police have been unable to find him.
According to Captain October, the suspect is a man in his late 40s.
School security guard Obed Ntshangase said the stolen groceries included three bags of rice weighing 17kg, two bags of curry soya weighing 5kg, four bags of samp weighing 17.5kg, two bags of sugar beans weighing 2kg, four 750ml bottles of sunflower oil, a 1kg bag of salt and 24 small tins of fish.
Principal Nomthandazo Zweni said the burglary had left teachers and pupils shaken.
“I feel unsafe for teachers and pupils, we just need help. Where do we go from here?” she said.
Anyone with information can contact Captain October on 071 694 8318.
