Heartless thugs have turned life at the Mvelaphanda Community Skills Development Training Centre into a nightmare.

Situated in Tshisaulu, west of Thohoyandou, the centre has been a victim of housebreaking and theft for the past two years, the latest being at the weekend. The thugs allegedly disable the security system to gain quiet entrance to the offices and classes. The incidents have now seriously affected the lives and education of the more than 400 students at the centre.

The latest incident left the catering students stranded, because all the food they use for their practical work was stolen from the centre’s main refrigerator. The thugs also stole a music system for the modeling students, 50 caps, 12 pairs of work suits and an undisclosed amount of petty cash. The estimated value of the stolen goods amounts to R10 000. Police are investigating a case of housebreaking and theft following the incident.

The centre’s managing director, Ms Esther Mushaathama, said they discovered that something was horribly wrong on Monday morning. “I was about to unlock the office, when I realized that it was already unlocked and the padlock was on the ground. I realized that the thugs used an iron bar to force the door open. The first thing that I noticed was an open empty refrigerator, which keeps the food for the catering students. There was also an indication that the thieves had eaten some food before they left because there were some leftovers on the floor.”

She said she got the shock of her life when she looked at the wooden cabinet. “A music system, 50 caps, 12 pairs of work suits and money were all gone. The aim of the center is to develop community members but this creates some problems when heartless people take away the little that we have. How do they expect proper learning to take place while they are trying to destroy what we have built after a long time of hard work?”

According to her, there were many previous incidents of theft in the school. “We have lost equipment worth thousands of rands to theft in the previous year. Earlier this year, the whole plumbing system in the ablution block was stolen and it will cost us R10 000 to replace it. We never know why this is happening to our center because these are the people who were supposed to protect it, for the sake of the future of their children.”