Vandals rack up millions in losses

ESKOM in the Western Cape said they have incurred losses of almost R96 million due to theft and vandalism.

Also, the City’s Water and Sanitation said between July 2023 and February 2024, the cost of vandalism in formal and informal areas amounted to about R11.3m.

This week, while infrastructure was damaged in Parow and Kylemore, they said that during the financial year their losses were in the millions of rand due to vandalism and theft.

There was a steep increase in these crimes as the country battled with load shedding.

“Eskom operators were dealt a major blow in their recovery operation to restore electricity to some customers in Kylemore after the Kylemore F2 tripped due to vandalism, which occurred on April 18, 2024,” Eskom said.

“Eight spans of conductors will need to be replaced at Kylemore F2. Eskom has seen a surge in theft and vandalism severely impact basic service delivery, maintenance and the completion of infrastructure projects.

“Even though Eskom successfully repaired various network faults and restored supply to most of the customers, some areas including Kylemore, Klapmuts and Stellenbosch farms have some parts still affected.

“The affected customers, who are still without electricity since the recent storm severely damaged network infrastructure, can be assured that Eskom’s recovery teams are all hands on deck for the restoration operation.”

Eskom also promised to give an indication on which areas were hotspots and were working on a response to Weekend Argus.

Earlier this week, residents living in the southern suburbs were left without water for nearly two days after an air valve was damaged due to vandalism in Blackbird Avenue in Parkwood.

This impacted schools. The Western Cape Education Department was forced to dismiss learners from 44 schools.

Water tankers were dispatched to the affected areas.

Teams for the City removed a bulk water pipe and replaced it with a new one.

The estimated cost of the damage is not available yet.

City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, said they were calculating the cost of the recent damage to infrastructure due to vandalism but were able to reveal the current impact.

“From July 2023 to February 2024, the cost of vandalism in formal and informal areas amounted to about R11.3 million,” he said.

This included missing manhole covers, stolen water meters, hydrant tampering, missing valves, damaged sewer manholes, stolen taps in informal areas, and vandalised and missing toilet parts in informal areas.

“From July 2023 to March 2024, 82% of blockages in the City’s water and sewage infrastructure were as a result of system misuse (ie, foreign objects, fats and building material being dumped into the networks) at an estimated cost of about R371,7 million,” Badroodien said.

The City’s also announced this week that it proposed a R5.317 billion capital budget for water and sanitation over the 2024/2025 financial year.

The total budget for water and sanitation for the upcoming financial year was R18.478bn.

THE vandalism in Parkwood left many without water. The City said such crimes cost them millions of rand.