While this week's theft of 160 desktop PCs is still under investigation, the South African Police Service (SAPS) has not ruled out the possibility that a PC syndicate could be involved.
On Tuesday, the Gauteng Department of Education's Johannesburg office was robbed of 160 PC boxes, televisions, laptops and hi-fis. Gauteng police spokesperson Mary Martins-Engelbrecht says the total loss is not yet known, as the department is still auditing what was taken.
This is the latest in a series of robberies of computing equipment. Other recent incidents include the South African Press Association. More recently, says Martins-Engelbrecht, a few computers were stolen from an unidentified business, and a few months ago, a business in Sandton was robbed of about 10 PCs.
While it is difficult to ascertain whether the thefts are linked and what the motive for the theft is, police are not ruling out the possibility of an underground syndicate. "There's a lot of speculation."
Martins-Engelbrecht says stolen computers sometimes end up in the hands of pawnshop owners, or at retailers that offer rebuild services. She says these machines may also end up at informal Internet caf'es.
Alternatively, the machines could be taken out of the country.
While the Gauteng education department was unreachable for comment, national DG Duncan Hindle says the theft seems to have been purely for information. The theft preceded the first day of Matric examinations.
Hindle says this theft was different in nature to others experienced by the department, which saw schools robbed of computing equipment. He says although he has not been briefed, it is his understanding that only the hard drives were taken.
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