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This essay summarises an article that was published on the 18th of November, 2012. The article was published in Sunday Times, which is a popular newspaper in South Africa. Its title was ‘Thieves take more than 100 top SA artworks.’ It was written by Sabelo Skiti. I accessed the article on ProQuest newspapers by using the keywords ‘South African art theft.’
The article talks about art theft in South Africa. This is a crime that has been common over the last two years. According to Massie Gordon, who ensures art materials, 100 artworks have been stolen within this period. The number could even be higher because some theft cases are never reported. The article discusses the most recent art theft, in which a Gerard Sekoto painting, valued at seven million rands was stolen. It was among five paintings that were stolen from the Pretoria Art Museum on the 18th of November, 2012. Four of the stolen paintings, valued at 10.5 million rands, were recovered at a cemetery in Port Elizabeth.
In the article, Massie points out that art theft is a profitable trade in many parts of the world, just like drug trafficking and the illegal sale of firearms. Most countries do not put enough effort to fight art theft, apart from Italy, which has a team of dedicated police officers who work tirelessly to combat the crime. Massie expresses confidence that relevant bodies would create local and international awareness to reduce art theft.
It is difficult to accurately determine the amount of money that is lost to art theft in South Africa because specialists and pundits argue that this would encourage more people to engage in the crime. As a result, they choose to give approximate figures that show the seriousness of the crime. Most South Africans believe that the effect of art theft is more than the monetary loss that is associated with the crime. According to them, the historical value of the artwork in South Africa is more important than its monetary value.
Pundits point out that museums have not been putting enough security measures in their organizations because they argue that the implementation of such measures is costly. However, this is dangerous because eventually, they incur huge losses due to theft cases. This implies that museums should put enough security measures to ensure that they prevent art theft because the incidents have been reported in other places.
The Pretoria museum theft involved a gang of three men. One of them, who pretended to be an art lecturer, requested to access particular paintings at the museum before the gang tied staff members and disappeared with the artworks. There are two types of art theft. The first one involves the theft of materials made of Bronze and other alloys because they are easily recycled. The other type occurs when materials of high value are stolen.
I was interested in the article because many people have little information about art theft. Many theft cases take place in different parts of the world, but art theft is unique. I was also interested in the article because of how the theft took place. A place where a country’s historical artwork is stored should be heavily guarded. However, the thieves walked into the museum and stole the artwork easily. I chose the article because it is informative and highlights an issue that is of interest to many people.
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