A joint venture by three emerging entrepreneurs to build an entertainment centre nearly turned into a nightmare, when more than 20 000 bricks were stolen from their site last week.

The shocking theft, which has sent shockwaves through the local community, happened at Muledane, near Ditike, just outside Thohoyandou.

One of the three partners, David Tshivhase, told Mirror that they bought the bricks in a joint venture to build an entertainment centre along the Punda Maria road. "We only hoped to contribute to the economic development of our society and we did not expect something like that to happen. Besides that, the entertainment centre will provide jobs for some of our community members and it is never acceptable to hurt us like that."

Tshivhase added that he had heard some rumours that there was a truck loading the bricks in the afternoon. "Passersby say they did not suspect anything when they saw the truck loading the bricks. I heard that the truck came back several times and no one ever thought that it was a theft in progress."

Asked if there was no dispute in the acquisition of the site, Tshivhase said: "We have followed all the channels and everything is in order. We also fail to understand why we are getting such shabby treatment because we want to develop our communities." He said the matter was reported to the Thohoyandou police for investigation.

Insp Nkanukeni Raedani of the Thohoyandou SAPS confirmed that a case of theft was registered. He said investigations are continuing although no arrest has been made so far. "We hope to make a huge breakthrough in the near future," said Raedani.