The Cape of Good Hope SPCA has had to close the doors of its veterinarian shop in Plumstead, Cape Town for the time being after discovering that it had been robbed and ransacked during the four-hour loadshedding period on Friday night.
Eskom announced on Wednesday that stage 6 loadshedding would be implemented well into the weekend as a result of the loss of additional generating units overnight and to replenish emergency reserves.
Also read: South Africa wakes up to lower loadshedding stages to end the week
The SPCA believes the criminals took advantage of the loadshedding and the fact that the shop’s cameras and alarm systems could not function due to the power outage.
Spokesperson Belinda Abraham said the robbery came ‘at a time when the SPCA faces significant challenges in terms of increased demand for services that are already stretching our resources to the maximum’.
The Vet shops are vital income-generating commercial entities, which help fund the important work with the SPCA does with animals in need.
The criminals took off with an undisclosed amount of money, bags of dog food, all the keys in the shop and caused a lot of destruction to property including breaking the computer modem tower.
‘They were certainly not in a rush to leave. The thieves even took time to finish a two-litre ice cream in the freezer and finished a staff member’s yoghurt drink. They even stole staff belongings from the cupboards,’ Abrahams told News24.
Western Cape police spokesperson Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi said ‘reports suggested that the complainant left the premises at around 5pm’.
The damages incurred by the break-in were yet to be determined and a case has been opened.
No arrests have been made as yet.
In a Facebook post, the animal organisation expressed that in addition to their disappointment at the complete lack of moral consciousness of the perpetrators who stole from an organisation whose services remain a vital part of the community, the SPCA will lose out on the income generated via sales that day.
Furthermore, the organisation said they would need to install a 5kW inverter to prevent any further criminal activity from taking place.
However, Abrahams said that they ‘simply cannot afford to incur the full cost of the inverter we need to keep our security systems running during loadshedding,’ she added.
SPCA is urging the public to assist with either donating or offering a significant discount on the supply of the 5kW inverter. Willing parties can email [email protected] or visit this link.
Police said anyone will information should contact Crime Stop at 08600 10111.
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Picture: Cape of Good Hope SPCA / Facebook
