R4m jewellery theft at varsity 'inside job'

Platinum and diamond jewellery worth R4-million has been stolen from a city university in what is believed to be an inside job.

Security staff at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology conducted polygraph tests on all department members, and one person failed the test. No criminal charges have been laid yet.

Vassiliki Konstandakellis, head of the university's Jewellery Design and Manufacture department, said the gemstones and unworked platinum were stolen from a safe on Wednesday a week ago after hours.

"It's an in-house job and it's terrible. Someone came in, raided the place and locked up."

Konstandakellis said the university was not happy with the way Cape Town police investigated the crime. Although they had called the police, they had not been given a case number.


Unworked platinum, a variety of diamonds of all shapes, colours and sizes and a collection of jewellery entered into an Anglo Platinum competition by students was stolen.