During a visit to Kraaifontein, the national deputy water and sanitation minister Dikeledi Magadzi made an urgent call on the community of Kraaifontein to safeguard water infrastructure.
In her address to the community at Bloekombos Primary School Hall, she said “water is life and sanitation is dignity”.
“Vandalising of basic services has deprived communities of basic services, which is deeply concerning to the department. To further combat vandalism, government urges communities to report incidents of vandalism to police and other law enforcement agencies,” Magadzi said.
In May an arson attack destroyed the Wallacedene sewage pump station resulting in sewer overflows and flooding of the entire sewer system in the area.
Since then the City of Cape Town had spent millions to repair the critical infrastructure.
Loss in revenue
Wallacedene pump station manager Ntsikelelo Luthuli said the vandalising of infrastructure causes losses in revenue, noting that the pump station of Wallacedene has to be fenced at a cost of R1,5 million.
“Due to the electric cable theft that happens from time to time, the temporary operation costs using generators at the pump station amount to R1 million per month,” Luthuli said.
Adding to this Magadzi said depositing foreign objects like stones, tyres, and other solid waste damages the infrastructure and costs the municipalities resources that would otherwise be utilised elsewhere.
Earlier this year the national department of water and sanitation and the City of Cape Town launched the anti-vandalism campaign to raise public awareness about the impact that the theft and vandalising of water and sanitation infrastructure has on essential services to communities.
