Vandals ‘cause damage to pumps’

More than 20,000 people in large parts of Stutterheim’s townships have been left without water for a week, after vandals sabotaged a high capacity water pump.

The dire situation has forced embattled Amathole District Municipality (ADM) to cart water to communities with a water tanker.

ADM spokesperson Nonceba Vuso said the Stutterheim water treatment plant was vandalised last Saturday.

“The people or person broke into the pump station at the treatment works and vandalised a pump station controls and a transformer.”

Vuso said the panels and transformer would cost the district authority an estimated R600,000 to replace. He could not say how long it would take to replace it.

The water comes from the Kubusi River to the treatment plant, before it is channelled to the township areas.

Vuso said the transformer that broke used electricity to provide power for the pumps.

The areas affected by the water cuts are Cenyu, Masimini, Mzomhle, Nkqenjqenkqe, Mbulelo, Ndlovini (also known as Mlungisi) and Khayelitsha.

Vuso said the ADM was carting water to the affected areas from panel 9am until 9pm. Education department spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima said schools in the townships could withstand cuts for a maximum of two weeks because they had water tanks.

“Once that water has run dry, we will work with the local municipality to ask for assistance in carting water to the tanks.”

Vuso said the head of the engineering department at ADM had opened a case with the police.

While seven townships are experiencing water cuts, the town’s suburbs have an uninterrupted supply of water.

Vuso said this was because the townships were situated in highlying areas.

Some areas affected by the water cuts are Cenyu, Masimini, Mzomhle, Mbulelo, Ndlovini and Khayelitsha