Mayors call on communities to help combat destruction of infrastructure

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Two frustrated Eastern Cape mayors are pleading with the communities they serve to work with them to stop criminals from destroying vital infrastructure. 

OR Tambo district mayor Mesuli Ngqondwana and his counterpart at the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality (KSD), Nyaniso Nelani, said the two authorities were bleeding millions of rands due to ongoing vandalism of crucial water and electricity infrastructure.

Ngqondwana said the district municipality had to cancel the official handing over of the Mvumelwano water treatment plant in Qumbu in the Kumkani Mhlontlo Local Municipality on Friday after it was discovered that it had been vandalised, with some power cables cut off, only a few days before the event. 

OR Tambo is responsible for water provision in five local municipalities including KSD and Mhlontlo.

“This senseless destruction has severely compromised the municipality’s efforts to ensure reliable water supply to communities,” Ngqondwana said.

“Critical components of the scheme were vandalised for the second time.

“This follows previous repairs and planned testing of the water supply.

“The municipality has reported the matter to Eskom and the police, seeking urgent intervention.”

He said the municipality was still trying to quantify the extent of the damage and how long it would take to repair.

Ngqondwana said the district authority had already spent more than R20m trying to replace vandalised and stolen water infrastructure.

“The devastating consequences of these criminal acts have far-reaching implications for the communities,” he said.

“We urge community members to report any information regarding these incidents to authorities as their co-operation is crucial in combating this scourge.”

He said the situation not only disrupted service delivery but hit the district municipality hard financially as it had only budgeted R40m for maintenance and operations for the current financial year.

Kumkani Mhlontlo municipal spokesperson Mamela Mangcotywa confirmed the Mvumelwano water treatment plant was responsible for supplying water to key parts of Qumbu including the CBD, Gcolokin location to Gqunu Farms, and areas such as Mvumelwano village, Shawburry, as far as Mdeni village.

“[The municipality] is deeply concerned about the vandalism.

“This incident has caused significant disruptions to water services, impacting on the daily lives of many residents,” he said.

Meanwhile, KSD’s mayor said the municipality had made a breakthrough earlier in November in its efforts to combat vandalism and theft of electricity infrastructure following the arrests of seven suspected cable thieves.

He said the criminal activities had led to major electricity outages including in the CBD, affecting communities, businesses and municipal operations.

“Over the past year, the municipality has faced numerous challenges due to these disruptions,” Nelani said.

“The financial burden has also been considerable, with the municipality incurring losses exceeding R25m since July last year.

“These funds, which were not accounted for in the budget, have been diverted to replace and repair the damaged infrastructure.”

Eastern Cape Chamber of Business president Vuyisile Ntlabati called on the two municipalities to invest in proper security technology, including CCTV cameras.

He said businesses relied on a steady supply of water and electricity to thrive.

The destruction of water and electricity infrastructure could also hamper efforts to bring in investors from outside.

“It [vandalism and theft] is bad and reflects badly on our communities.

“The millions used to replace stolen or damaged infrastructure could have been spent elsewhere.

“Most importantly, those are our taxes. This is just counterproductive as the disruptions are costly to businesses as well.”

Ntlabati said the two municipalities needed to run intensive campaigns to educate communities on the impact of vandalism and theft of infrastructure meant to serve them.