Law enforcement officers arrested a man after a burglary at Bonteheuwel library in which computers, stationery, keyboards, and children’s party packets were stolen.
The burglars made a hole in the library’s ceiling to get inside.
Residents saw three men jumping over the library fence on Friday April 24 and alerted law enforcement officers on patrol in the area.
The officers apprehended one man suspected of carrying all the stolen goods.
Bishop Lavis police spokesman Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi said the man had been charged with possession of stolen property. He is due to appear in the Bishop Lavis Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday September 23.
According to Bonteheuwel ward councillor, Angus McKenzie the burglars ransacked the library and broke furniture.
This is the second time the library has been broken into, according to Mr McKenzie. The first time was in June last year. The building has security guards on site but they are posted at the office-side of the property, not the library side.
Mr McKenzie said the cost of the damage to the library and extra security measures was still being determined.
The library is undergoing a
R4 million upgrade, which has been suspended during the Covid-19 lockdown. New computers and furniture are part of the improvements.
“The very facility which is used by the thugs’ children, brothers, and sisters to better their own circumstances in order not to live the same life has been trashed,” Mr McKenzie said.
“It makes no sense, and I am angered by this. I applaud the community for standing up to this.”
Cedar Primary School principal Carlin Symonds said the library ran regular programmes for the pupils and was of great benefit to them.
Pupils also used the library’s computers for projects and after-school activities.
“Pupils also go to the library on their own, and they have become so techno savvy, I am really impressed by them. The ones who cannot afford to have computers at home rely on the ones at the library so that has been taken away from them now. They are already less fortunate. Lots of pupils come to the library during the school holidays,” she said.