The Chief Albert Luthuli Municipality (CALM) Executive Mayor Daniel Nkosi with the Executive Mayor Daniel Nkosi w and the Municipal Technical Services Team took site visits to different water and sanitation infrastructures.
According to the Nkosi, the visits come after constant complaints from the community also as results of vandalism to municipal infrastructure.
“Sewer spillages pose a serious threat to the environment, especially water resources in terms of quality through pollution; as such we should all play our part in minimising the sewer spillages.
“The sanitation team explained that there were various reasons why the pipes were clogged: The Foreign objects that shouldn’t be flushed into sewage systems, such as wipes, sanitary products, toys, or other solid materials, can lead to blockages. Grease and fat build-up: in kitchen drains, the build-up of grease and fat over time can restrict the flow of sewage, leading to blockages,”
“This is why we all should adhere to municipal by-laws by not misusing the sewage system, and refrain from disposing of inappropriate and foreign materials.
As the municipality, we condemn these acts of cable theft and vandalism which have resulted in the shutdown of the Inkomati Pump Station due to vandalism at the abstraction point,” explain Nkosi.
He also said there is an incident where electrical panels and electrical cables were stolen. The high level of vandalism is of a greater concern in number of villages in the municipality and members of communities are urged to report any infrastructure damage and vandalism.
“On Wednesday, March 06, in the evening the Inkomati pump station was vandalised. The perpetrators took all the electricity cables and as such the plant is currently not functional, it must be noted that we are unable to anticipate when will it be in a state of operation since other components have been badly damaged, also the security guards were beaten up and have been since hospitalised. Moreover, our electrical components at Carolina mini sub stations have been damaged,” says Nkosi.
The mayor added that the replacement costs of the infrastructure are currently estimated at millions of rands which need to be funded from municipal coffers which had not been budgeted for.
This also hampers the municipality in providing basic services to communities which are in desperate need of these basic services.
The municipality is appealing to the residents of CALM to assist by reporting theft and vandalism of its infrastructure which at the current rate has the potential to collapse the ability of the municipality to provide its communities with the necessary basic services and communities are left without services for a prolonged period.
The theft and vandalism of municipal infrastructure is a criminal offence which carries a hefty sentence when convicted. We are urging communities to report any acts of theft and vandalism.
With the above-mentioned information, the residents are requeste d to use water sparingly.
