The Chris Hani district municipality in the Eastern Cape has opened a criminal case after it discovered that vandalism of its bulk water infrastructure is the cause of water outages in Cofimvaba and 40 surrounding villages.
The municipality has been struggling with pipeline breakages, initially believed to be due to aging infrastructure, only to discover an intentional act of sabotage on the Tsojana bulk pipeline.
Municipal spokeswoman Bulelwa Ganyaza says they are working with the police to find the culprits.
“The vandalism has led to a large volume of water leaking and recurring water outages in the area, and the situation will remain until repairs are completed. The district municipality has been gravely concerned about the abnormal rate of pipe bursts and intermittent water interruptions in the area. Vandalism of municipal infrastructure is a serious offence and in this case, there is evidence pointing to such. A case has been opened with the South African Police Services in the area.”