A poor community raised more than R25 000 to install a water supply system at their school, but thugs gained entrance through a fence during the night and stole the borehole motor and electricity cables, causing damage of more than R6 000.

Now the 426 learners at Bungeni Primary School, near Makhado, have no water for drinking, their nutritional programme and gardening project. Police at Waterval SAPS have registered a case of theft, but no arrests have been made so far.

The school principal, Ms Nancy Mthombeni, said she noticed that something was wrong with the school’s water supply on Thursday morning. “I asked the school’s caretaker to switch on the electricity supply of the borehole so that we could draw water to the tank. We were surprised when water did not come out and we went to the borehole to investigate. We got the shock of our lives when we realized that the motor and electricity cables had been stolen. There was a hole in the fence, which shows that the thugs took out one of the steel bars to gain entrance, because our gates were locked. They used a steel bar to break the locked protective iron bars that were placed on top of the borehole. I don’t know how they took out the motor, because it is below the ground. There were other pipes, approximately 70m long, lying around, which they had taken out from the borehole.”

Mthombeni said it is painful because it took a long time for the community to raise the money for the water supply system. “We are faced with a very big crisis now that we don’t have water at the school. On Thursday, learners did not even wash their hands after visiting the toilets, which is a serious danger to their health. The theft has also seriously disturbed us because we did not even conduct their nutritional programme and learners went home with empty stomachs. We are also worried about the vegetables in the school garden which we will not be able to water as a result of the actions of the thugs. It will take a very long time to replace the stolen property because we mostly depend on community assistance for funds.”

Limpopo’s spokesperson for the Department of Education, Mr Ndo Mangala, condemned the incident and said the department is shocked. “It is very unfortunate to reach a situation where thieves can even steal from the kids. As a department, we condemn any act by community members which can prevent the smooth running of education in the province. We hope the police will make a breakthrough and arrest those who are involved.”