The scrapyard industry has seen an increase in the illegal trade of stolen metal parts. Over the last three months, local township schools have had their premises severely vandalised. The offenders specifically target metal urinals, water pipes, electricity cables and plugs.
The scrapyard industry has seen an increase in the illegal trade of stolen metal parts. Over the last three months, local township schools have had their premises severely vandalised. The offenders specifically target metal urinals, water pipes, electricity cables and plugs.
This epidemic has seen schools such as NV Cewu and Samuel Ntlebi without any electricity or adequate plumbing. As a result, educators and learners are unable to use the toilet facilities.
The need for tighter security has resulted in schools such as NV Cewu and CM Vellum squeezing out R20 000 to install Hi-Tec sensitive security beams. These expensive beams are a wise investment but also prove to be a hard purchase for the schools and even private homes.
With no formal “lay-bye” option for the payment of the Hi-Tec beams, many schools are unable to purchase these beams. As the most expensive product offered by Hi-Tec, it is difficult for the company to offer the beam to schools on a lay-bye basis. This becomes even more difficult as many of the targeted schools have poor infrastructure which makes the beams less effective.
It has been reported that the targeted Joza Primary schools have lost up to R100 000 in damages to the schools, with little or no money in the maintenance budget to repair these items speedily.
Vandals currently enjoy a monopoly in the neighbouring Joza Primary schools. Leonard Vodell, Manager of licensed scrapyard: Metal Masters, confirms a profit of R20 per kilo for metals brought in. These metals also are traded in broken or burnt pieces in order to make the identification process that much harder.
The limitation of the illegal trade in metals is an industry that is not limited to Grahamstown only. The quest to limit the trade of illegal metals is difficult as scrapyard owners are only altered to the theft of parts, weeks after a crime has occurred. By then, vandals have destroyed the evidence and made a profit. All the while, learners and educators are suffering the biggest injustice as they are denied adequate sanitation and electricity.
