R570k lost as thieves strip BCM community halls

Buffalo City Metro has lost more than R500,000 in damages and stolen property from several community halls due to lack of security at the facilities.

Ward 20 councillor Ntombizodwa Gamnca told the Daily Dispatch on Monday that over the weekend brazen thieves had stripped the NU7 community hall of electric cables, leaving it in darkness.

“I heard about the break-in today, I think it happened on Sunday. This break-in was actually the second time our hall had been targeted. The first incident happened last month,” Gamnca said.

A new report on burglaries and vandalism of community halls due to lack of security was tabled in the metro council last month.

In the report acting city manager Bob Naidoo highlighted that the NU1, NU10 and Schornville halls had been targeted by thieves between July 2017 and April 2018 costing the metro about R572,000.

Criminal cases were opened with the police but no arrests were made according to councillors in the affected areas.

In April thieves stole “one polisher ... 20 tables, three geysers, a DV board [distribution board] removed wiring, all windows stolen and burglar proofing, kitchen units, four double doors stolen and burglar gates,” the report said.

Vuyiswa Mpanza, the councillor for ward 48, which includes NU10, said: “Due to the constant vandalism the hall had to be closed down.”

Asked about the metro’s action plan and why there were no security guards at the facilities BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said: “The aim is to get a permanent long-term solution to this issue.

“The relevant department is, in the interim, using 45 former military veterans who patrol as part of our coastline patrol.”

However, ward councillors in Mdantsane said there were no patrols in the area.

The caretaker of the Gompo Hall, Pumlani Tokwe said: “We used to have security in our hall but they took them away and never replaced them.

“These incidents never happened during those times. Last month there was a break-in at the Sophila Centre, where disabled people work from.”