On Monday morning, a staff member from Gift of the Givers Foundation reported for work at the office when they discovered the office had been robbed and ransacked. Burglars had broken in the night before, trashed the place and stolen multiple items from the foundation located in Belthorn Estate, Cape Town.
Thieves had stolen office chairs, a desk, TV sets, relief packs and a laptop containing important information about persons and charities who had registered for aid and relief.
Ayanda Ndamane/African News Agency (ANA)
Ali Sablay, project manager at the foundation tells News24:
“These people not only stole from the Gift of the Givers, they also stole from the community because all that information has to be recaptured. That is unfortunate for the underprivileged people of the Western Cape. People registered for food parcels and wheelchairs. Soup kitchens and schools can’t register. Our team had prepared packs for the Western Cape fire victims, which has been unfortunately stolen as well.”
Speaking with IOL, Sablay pleads for the laptop which had been stolen, to be returned.
“The laptop that was stolen: if we could just have that back. On that laptop are the names of people who came to register for any social assistance in terms of food hampers.”
Relief packs for fire victims who had been hit by the recent Western Cape fires had also been stolen.
People living within the same community the foundation has been assisting and providing aid to, may very well be responsible the crime.
“It could have been your mother, your grandmother’s name on that laptop,” said Sablay to Daily Maverick.
Fortunately, the robbery won’t affect the foundations operations, as only the office was burgled, and not their warehouse.
Eleven persons were caught with stolen goods and have been taken in for questioning by the police. No arrests have been made yet.
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Feature Image: Ayanda Ndamane / African News Agency (ANA)
