{"id":551902,"date":"2007-03-30T09:27:49","date_gmt":"2007-03-30T09:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/wordpress\/technology\/551902-burglars-target-township-school-computer-labs.html"},"modified":"2007-03-30T09:27:49","modified_gmt":"2007-03-30T09:27:49","slug":"burglars-target-township-school-computer-labs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/technology\/551902-burglars-target-township-school-computer-labs.html","title":{"rendered":"Burglars target township school computer labs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inkululeko, which installs donated computers and open-source software in schools around South Africa, was initially funded by the Shuttleworth Foundation, but is now independent. <\/font><\/p>\n

Inkululeko Technologies spokesman William Millhouse said: "Crime is frustrating the progress of sustainability and development." <\/font><\/p>\n

He was reacting to a spate of burglaries that has seen nine labs repeatedly burgled and equipment worth thousands of rands stolen in Port Elizabeth schools. <\/font><\/p>\n

KwaMagxaki High School principal Mwezi Qomfo said his school had been broken into four times this year. He said it was bad because the computers had helped the pupils. "They know a lot about computers now." <\/font><\/p>\n

Millhouse said since the communities were mostly poor, "they usually do not have the means to replace the expensive equipment". <\/font><\/p>\n

The company is funded by major South African firms to set up computer labs in schools around the Eastern Cape. Millhouse said once his company had put in the labs, the schools became the custodians of the labs. <\/font><\/p>\n

"Vandalism should not be tolerated in any shape or form." <\/font><\/p>\n

He said the burglars had used "brute force and caused a lot of damage to physical infrastructure, and even machines which they did not take they threw around". <\/font><\/p>\n

District education director Sam Snayer said his department had massive infrastructure problems and needed to prioritise. He said there were priority schools falling apart and there were no funds for burglar bars. <\/font><\/p>\n

The programme is an ongoing process in which Inkululeko installs, trains and supports the schools. <\/font><\/p>\n

Millhouse said "the criminals must realise they are not only stealing from schools, but from communities who cannot afford to replace equipment". <\/font><\/p>\n

Zanoxolo Primary principal, Thembeka Veto said: "The pupils are very disappointed." <\/font><\/p>\n

She said the thieves had come back after the school’s insurance company replaced the lab equipment. The burglaries have forced principals to come up with creative ways to protect their schools, and communities to become involved. <\/font><\/p>\n

Mandisi Mvimbeli, principal of Jarvis Gqamlana Primary, said his school had a security alarm, but what had helped were the links they had forged with the community”s ward committee. "The schools are not ours only ? they belong to society at large. So if things happen members of society can come forward and help." <\/font><\/p>\n

David Vuku Primary principal Zola Ngondo invited a police officer to live in a cottage on the school premises after a break-in. He said they had not had a break-in since then. <\/font><\/p>\n

Engen social investment manager Khanyisa Balfour said: "Inkululeko first ensures that the school has a decent security system before they install the equipment." <\/font><\/p>\n

However, some schools that had been broken into had alarm systems, but the signal had not been relayed. <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A spate of burglaries is compromising the sustainability of a school computer project headed by Inkululeko Technologies. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-551902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551902"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551902\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}