“There are only two people with keys to such a strongroom and one of them was on leave at the time of the incident and had left his key at the office.
“I am not implying anything, but the cleaners do have keys to those offices and it could have been one of them who is behind this.
“All we have to do is wait for investigations to uncover what exactly happened,” he said.
“The person responsible was very careful as he or she wiped the door handle and fingerprints could not be lifted when police tried to do so,” he said.
The union said burglary and and theft in the legislature were on the rise and that the institution needed to up their security measures.
Hermans said the incident had been reported to have happened on August 22 and that “the laptops were meant for the work of the legislature. We are not able to provide information at this stage about the costs of the laptops”.
Nkwali said there had been a number of other break-ins and theft incidents where even television sets were stolen and no one was arrested.
Nkwali also claimed that the laptops were stored in the strongroom “because they did not meet specifications as ordered by the institution”.
Attempts to get comment from Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi was unsuccessful. – Additional reporting by Siphe Macanda
Thieves leave no prints at legislature
New laptops stolen from locked strongroom in Bhisho
Image: File
Bhisho legislature strongroom was robbed of laptops by careful cat burglars who wiped down the crime scene to remove their fingerprints.
But fingers were being pointed aplenty in the provincial lawmakers’ complex as labour union Nehawu blamed management for a range of ills, while a senior management source said it was an inside job and that the machines were probably stolen by workers.
Police are investigating the theft of two new laptops from a locked strongroom on August 22.
The investigation was on Tuesday confirmed by the institution and by King William’s Town police spokeswoman Captain Siphokazi Mawisa, who said they were yet to make an arrests.
Legislature spokeswoman Maria Hermans on Tuesday confirmed that the strongroom was broken into and the two new laptops stolen.
Nehawu legislature branch chairman Madoda Nkwali said their information was that eight laptops were stolen – and some desktop computers kept in a strongroom at the institution’s supply chain management unit.
A source within the legislature’s top management on Tuesday told the Dispatch that the latest break-in “was a work of someone from inside” as the door lock was apparently opened with a key and not forced or broken.
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“There are only two people with keys to such a strongroom and one of them was on leave at the time of the incident and had left his key at the office.
“I am not implying anything, but the cleaners do have keys to those offices and it could have been one of them who is behind this.
“All we have to do is wait for investigations to uncover what exactly happened,” he said.
“The person responsible was very careful as he or she wiped the door handle and fingerprints could not be lifted when police tried to do so,” he said.
The union said burglary and and theft in the legislature were on the rise and that the institution needed to up their security measures.
Hermans said the incident had been reported to have happened on August 22 and that “the laptops were meant for the work of the legislature. We are not able to provide information at this stage about the costs of the laptops”.
Nkwali said there had been a number of other break-ins and theft incidents where even television sets were stolen and no one was arrested.
Nkwali also claimed that the laptops were stored in the strongroom “because they did not meet specifications as ordered by the institution”.
Attempts to get comment from Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi was unsuccessful. – Additional reporting by Siphe Macanda
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