Shock as R1.4m school ICT lab looted days after launch in KZN

A R1.4 million state-of-the-art ICT lab at Asibemunye Secondary School in Mpophomeni, KZN Midlands, has been stripped bare just days after its official launch, in a brazen overnight theft that has left pupils, teachers and the wider community in shock.

The break-in, believed to have taken place on Sunday night, saw thieves make off with all the laptops, leaving behind only a single screen in what school officials suspect may have been an inside job.

The incident has been confirmed by school governing body (SGB) chairperson Mafika Adam, who described the discovery as devastating.

“We were all shocked when we saw on Monday that all the computers were gone. The only thing left was the screen. This is a huge setback for our learners,” Adam told The Witness.

According to Adam, matric pupils had been at the school on Sunday, and when they left, the ICT lab was secure, locked and protected by an alarm system.

Suspicion is now growing that the perpetrators had inside knowledge of the premises.

We suspect they jumped the main gate and broke the paddles of the inside gate leading to the ICT lab.

But the door itself was not forced open. It looks like a key was used even for the safe, although it was made to appear as if it had been broken into,” he said.

He added that the alarm beams were also tampered with.

The lab was officially opened on Tuesday last week in a high-profile event attended by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli, the CEO of Vodacom, Sitho Mdlalose and MEC for Education, Sipho Hlomuka.

The launch had been celebrated as a major milestone for the school and the surrounding community, aimed at improving digital learning and access to technology.

That optimism has now turned to frustration and concern, as the theft threatens to derail progress for pupils who had just begun benefiting from the facility.

The incident also mirrors a worrying trend where newly launched ICT labs have been targeted by criminals.

Last year, Sibongombomvu Combined School in Cedara was similarly broken into just weeks after unveiling its own lab, raising questions about security and possible organised targeting of such facilities.

Police are yet to comment on the matter.