A search for
a lost horse by a community member turned into a grim discovery today, 19
October, at Amathole District Municipality’s (ADM) Mgwali Raw Water Pump
Station, under Mbhashe Local Municipality.
This after,
an unidentified body of a man was found inside the yard of ADM’s raw water pump
station with tools in what is suspected to have been an attempt to steal diesel
from the station’s transformer.
The
community member in search of his lost animal went and informed the ADM staff,
who, with the local traditional leader, went to the scene.
It is
suspected that the man may have been electrocuted, however, local SAPS were
notified immediately, and a cause of death has not yet been established.
“Whilst the
presence of a dead body naturally raises alarms about potential contamination
of the water supply, ADM assures that all drinking water sent from the station
to our communities and businesses is always treated as standard practice.
Additionally, the deceased body was not recovered inside raw water at this
station.”
“It goes
without saying that loss of life, no matter the circumstances, is always
tragic, the district wishes to remind our communities of the dangers associated
with tampering with high pressure water pipelines and infrastructure as these
may lead to loss of lives,” said ADM spokesperson Nonceba Madikizela-Vuso.
Madikizela-Vuso
warned that vandalism of municipal infrastructure, a transformer in this
instance, can lead to fatalities in that the water pump capacity is compromised
thus interrupting water distribution which at times affects essential
institutions such as hospitals and schools.
The district
municipality has appealed to communities to report to local authorities all
suspicious activities as vandalism of municipal infrastructure affects us all.
