The municipality is currently experiencing a high volume of theft and vandalism on its municipal infrastructure which has a negative impact on the ability of the municipality to provide sustainable and continuous services, to the communities of Chief Albert Luthuli Municipality (CALM).
According to CALM spokesperson Thapelo Phetla, the municipality, condemn the acts of cable theft and vandalism which have resulted in the shutdown of the Emanzana Water Treatment Works due to vandalism of the abstraction point. This follows an incident where electrical panels and electrical cables were stolen.
The incident occurred Wednesday, October 11, during the early hours eManzana abstraction point, was vandalised.
“The criminals stole all the electricity cables and 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. As the municipality, we are working with the entity to try to speed up the process of restoring the supply,” he said.
Phetla added that the affected wards are 17 and 23. The replacement costs of the infrastructure are currently estimated at R1 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. We are 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. Moreover, communities are left without services for a prolonged period,” explain Phetla.
He also said the theft and vandalism of municipal infrastructure is a criminal offence which carries a hefty sentence when convicted. The also urged communities to report any acts of theft and vandalism.
With the above-mentioned information, the residents are requested to use water sparingly.
