The water supply network to Kraaifontein areas were dealt a blow when vandals struck critical water infrastructure on two consecutive days last week during the early morning hours.
On Thursday they vandalised the electricity supply to the pump station and control mechanisms and on Friday morning they ravaged the telemetry of the water supply network at the Bloekombos and De Novo reservoirs.
This, according to information received by TygerBurger, is posing a severe risk of reservoirs running dry in the face of ongoing protests.
The vandalised equipment according to the City are critical to the operations of the water supply to and from the reservoirs that supply drinking water to these and surrounding areas.
“These acts of vandalism are very costly to remedy and are very disruptive to the day-to-day operations of the water and sanitation directorate. Usually operational staff can monitor and adjust the flow and supply of water via the technology that was available at these locations, but now they have to physically visit these installations on an hourly basis to make adjustments, which otherwise would have been made remotely. This ties up our manpower unnecessarily as they would have been attending to other service related aspects of our operations,” Siseko Mbandezi, acting Mayco member for water and sanitation, says.
Influx of people
Subcouncil 2 manager Marian Nieuwoudt told TygerBurger the vandalism that is being experienced here is connected to the influx of people into the area who demand services by force.
“The ongoing destruction of infrastructure and those who prevent contractors from working in the area is causing a panic among a otherwise hardworking community,” she says.
She says the City cannot repair the infrastructure repeatedly.
She urges the community to come forward with information of planned vandalism or to report perpetrators to bring them to book so the City can continue to provide services within the framework of provision.
If your confidential information leads to an arrest or recovery of stolen property by the City’s law enforcement or metro police, you can get a reward of up to R5 000.
