Primary pupils behind Matsapha break-ins

MATSAPHA – Tenants of  Mobeni flats in Matsapha and surrounding areas are having sleepless nights – and days – because of primary school pupils who break into their houses.

The pupils, whose ages range from 12 to 17 years, break into the houses and steal food and other expensive items.
Most of the pupils who have been nabbed attend school at the neighbouring Matsapha Government Primary School.

The residents who have fallen victim to the marauding pupils are tenants at Mobeni flats, SEC staff houses located not far from the primary school, the upmarket flats situated along the street just before the Umhlambanyatsi hang out spot and the flats next to Unitrans.
break-ins

The break-ins have been going on since the last week of the second term according to some tenants.
The culprits have turned out to be both boys and girls attending the same school and some of them have been caught in the act by the tenants and taken to Sigodvweni Police Station.

One of the tenants said he was shocked when one weekend, one of the pupils broke into his house after breaking a window.
“The boy probably thought there was nobody inside since it was a Sunday at around 11am. He broke the kitchen window and snuck in. I was sleeping in the bedroom when I heard the sound of breaking glass. I woke up and went to the kitchen where I found the boy moving around my house, carrying slices of cheese which he had already taken from the fridge. I was shocked but quickly regained composure.

“As soon as he saw me, he ran towards the door but I managed to get hold of him,” said Sandile Mdluli, a tenant at Mobeni.
He said after a long interrogation, the boy eventually admitted that he was a pupil at the nearby Matsapha Government School.
Mdluli called the Sigo-dvweni police who took the boy away.

broke

Another tenant, Anele Dlamini, who occupies a flat situated along the street opposite the popular Umhlambanyatsi Bar explained how a pupil from the same school broke into her house while she was at work.
“This was a week before schools closed. I was at work and the boy broke into my house and stole an LCD TV set. He was seen coming out of the house carrying the TV by one of my unemployed neighbours who immediately called me. “Upon seeing that he had been caught, the boy threw the TV down and ran away. He was later identified as one of the pupils from Matsapha Government Primary School.

The matter was reported to the police but the boy was never arrested,” she said. Swaziland Electricity Company (SEC) employees who occupy staff houses situated less than a kilometre from the school are said to be used to having their houses broken into by the pupils.

What is of paramount concern though to most of the burglary victims is that the pupils hardly get arrested. “They are taken in for questioning and released, with no formal charges laid against them,” said Ayanda Ginindza, one of the victims who wondered how the children would realise the seriousness of their bad habit.

A majority of the thieving pupils are said to be from areas such as Mathangeni, Logoba, and Ndlunganye.
The headmaster, who only identified himself as Khumalo said he had not received any formal complaints about some of his pupils breaking into people’s houses within the area.

“I am not aware of the matter. Maybe it’s a report we will probably receive once schools re-open,” he said.
Police Public Realtions Officer Superintendent Wendy Hleta confirmed the incidents of children breaking into people’s houses in Matsapha.
Even though the police’s mouthpiece could not specifically confirm that the pupils were from Matsa-pha Government Primary School, she said police had received several reports of children breaking into people’s properties and stealing items.

cases

“There are cases that have been reported involving children. The cases we are aware of so far are those that have been reported by one tenant from Mobeni and another from Unitrans. “The children involved in these cases are female. In one house they stole shoes belonging to an adult and in the other they took a toddler’s shoes,” she said. Superintendent Hleta said according to information in her posession, the implicated pupils are aged around 12 years.

“These cases are still under investigation more so because the complainants requested that the children be counselled. He did not lay a charge,” she said. The police mouthpiece said when questioned, one of the pupils informed the police that she stole the toddler’s shoes because she wanted to fit them into her doll.

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