KABOKWENI- The City of Mbombela has taken a strong stance against illegal connections and the stealing of municipal water.
An operation conducted by a multi-sectoral team comprised of the South African Police Service and Municipal Law Enforcement officials who seized a number of 10 000-litre Jojo tanks and ensured that illegal connections were removed.
This comes after the illegal water connection issue was reported to have disrupted the supply of water to Themba Hospital and surrounding areas. As a result, the water crisis left many households without access to tap water, forcing them to buy it, and fueling protests in the community.
City of Mbombela Local Municipality spokesperson, Joseph Ngala said the municipality is making every effort to ensure uninterrupted water supply, however, illegal connections are their biggest challenge.
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“This ongoing issue is not only detrimental to the municipality, but also to the entire community. Local water tanker owners are turning the water supply into a business, leaving several homes without water. As a municipality, we are appealing to the community to refrain from supporting unscrupulous water tank owners who continue to sabotage municipal infrastructure in pursuit of self-enrichment,” he said.
He further noted that the city will seek legal advice and pursue all unauthorised connections to its bulk line to ensure that such are criminally charged. “We will not hesitate to pursue criminal prosecution against any resident found to have made unauthorised connections to the water system,” added Ngala.
