Mopani residents fear confronting water thieves as some vendors are linked to known criminals in the community.
The theft of water is one of the factors contributing to a water shortage in the Mopani district municipality of Limpopo.
Recently, some parts of Nkowankowa in Tzaneen spent more than 10 days without water because some private water vendors allegedly disrupted the water reticulation network when filling up their water tankers.
Municipality sends in private security
A few days ago, the municipality sent a private security firm to chase them away and allow the repair of the equipment that was also broken.
“It is true that there are many trucks collecting water from the fire hydrants that are near the roads and that affect the water reticulation,” said a source.
“As community members, we are scared to challenge this because some of the owners of these trucks are well-known criminals.”
In a video clip shared with The Citizen, heavily armed security officers could be seen chasing away truck drivers who were trying to fill up the tanks.
Other trucks that were coming to collect water drove away when they noticed that the area was guarded by heavily armed officers.
Residents call for lasting solutions
Another source said chasing the water vendors away would not solve the problem because it is not a permanent solution, as when the security guards leave the area, the vendors will come back and continue with their business.
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“We need a lasting solution, such as deploying full-time guards. For example, the security firm that handled the situation recently is contracted to the municipality, which means they can safeguard the areas where this kind of crime is rampant,” said the source.
Community leader Elizabeth Shingange said the lack of maintenance is one of the problems contributing to the water shortage.
“We are appealing to the municipality to keep on maintaining the water infrastructure to avoid a situation in which we will end up contracting water-borne diseases,” said Shingange.
Municipality blames illegal connections and vandalism
Mopani district municipality spokesperson Odas Ngobeni conceded there was an interruption of water supply due to multiple factors.
“The prevalence of illegal connections and acts of vandalism pose significant challenges,” said Ngobeni.
“Although maintaining security personnel in every location at all times may not be feasible, we are focusing our efforts on hotspots, with Nkowankowa recognised as a priority area,” he said.
Ngobeni said recently there were malfunctions at several clear water pumps at the water treatment facility, but said he cannot directly attribute this to water theft as illegal connections strain the bulk water supply.
