According to the council’s spokesperson, Cyril Ripinga, these past few weeks have seen the municipality experiencing unprecedented power outages due to these thefts.

“In other instances, municipal employees and security guards had to endure brutal torture and physical assault by heavily armed criminals while on night duty at various water treatment plants.

“As a result of this theft and vandalism, many communities have been left not only without electricity, but also without water, as water infrastructure has also been severely affected.

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“These cases have been reported to the police, and hopefully these criminals will be apprehended and successfully prosecuted and punished,” said Ripinga. He made a clarion call to the community of Nkomazi to jealousy guard against these criminal elements whose intention is to cause instability within the municipality.

“The municipality would further like to request members of the community to report any suspicion of such criminal activities to nearby police.

“The municipality views this electrical infrastructure theft and vandalism not only as criminal, but also as malicious and life-threatening, as it happens when the community is grappling with the scourge of the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.