Cape Town - “We are ashamed,” said the family of one of the men arrested for purchasing stolen goods belonging to relief organisation Gift of the Givers (GOTG).
GOTG founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman met the family of the 38-year-old man who had purchased some of the stolen goods, taken from its two-storey Penlyn Estate offices on Monday.
GOTG project manager Ali Sablay said seven suspects could be seen in security footage obtained, getting out of a white Quantum at 3.20am on Monday, minutes before the scheduled load shedding at 4am until 6am.
The suspects ransacked its offices during load shedding.
“The items retrieved were the frame, microwave, PC monitors. The TV has been found in Grassy Park police station, we have to go pick it up there. A lot of boxes of clothing have been returned, some awards and certificates have been found, that is also at the police station and some PPE as well.”
Sablay said a Dell laptop with information of people requesting various forms of relief aid and boxes of clothing meant for fire victims were yet to be retrieved.
Sooliman said: “Apparently they managed to arrest the kingpin (in Hanover Park) from what they have said, so my message is that is a microcosm of what can be done in the country.
“The fact that the communities have stood up, if we do this together, communities with the police and the country, we can wipe out crime.”
Sooliman said in the 30 years of existence, GOTG had only experienced two break-ins at its offices.
He said the goods were estimated at between R50000 and R200000 and that the organisation would be following through with the charges.
A family member of the arrested man said: “On Monday, my nephew saw the boxes of clothing and he alerted my mother. When we saw the name on it, we saw it was from GOTG and immediately my mother went online on Facebook to check if there was any break-ins and she saw the place was broken into and we are down the road in Belgravia.
“When they raided the place in Hanover Park, I think he just bought stuff there and they followed him and they got him down the road so he was also arrested.”
On Monday, police spokesperson Frederick van Wyk said information was received that four premises in Hanover Park were storing the stolen property.
Ten suspects (men and women) aged between 20 and 40 were arrested for possession of suspected stolen property and detained at Philippi Police Station on Monday.