NELSON Mandela Bay Municipality said the constant vandalism to its water infrastructure and furniture could cost the city more than R100 000, including the loss of water, material and labour.
The vandalism has resulted in continuous water disruptions, leading to water outages in large areas for days. Vandalism of reservoir control infrastructure has resulted in the overflowing of reservoirs and loss of water, while electrical cable theft from pump stations compromises the distribution of water to where it is required, among other problems.
NMBM Infrastructure and Engineering portfolio head, Councillor Mongameli Bobani, has called on communities to safeguard assets and report vandalism, as the city’s water infrastructure is under attack from thieves.
During a site visit to the Motherwell Booster Pump station recently, Bobani said the incidents of vandalism to the water infrastructure were on the rise, putting financial pressure on the city while also causing water outages during a critical time of COVID-19 pandemic.
“Day Zero is looming. If we can’t protect our most important commodity – water – we will be in trouble. Our biggest problem, right now, is that there are criminals that are busy vandalising our pump stations and sub–stations.
“We want to make them aware that if they continue to do that, our residents will continue to suffer, including them,” Bobani said.
Owing to the vandalism, NMBM continues to incur financial losses and water disruptions, with the latest damage caused at the Standford Road booster pump station, costing more than R1 million.
NMBM senior director of water and sanitation, Barry Martin, said the vandalism led to electrical equipment becoming redundant when the power and signal cables were stolen.
“The fault finding, assessment and reinstalling of the stolen material is very costly and time consuming. We really could be using this money we are using to repair material we already had, to do other work. Financial losses will continue to climb if the crime does not stop, with a greater loss occurring, as irreplaceable water resources are lost and many consumers experience frustrations,” Martin said.
He added that the water division was continuously researching alternatives and solutions,
“Our challenges include funding for these solutions, as well as difficulty with procurement.”
Martin said, despite the recent rain fall in NMBM, the total dam levels remained at a low 18.24%, as at August 24, putting more pressure on the city to save every drop.
“We note and welcome the rain, but we are still in the red zone and therefore call on our residents to continue to save water,” Bobani said.
Members of the public are urged to report suspicious actions to the South African Police Service or NMBM Metro Police.
