Theft of Steenberg water meters increasing

STEENBERG and nearby areas are experiencing an increase in the theft of water meters.

Ward councillor Marita Petersen said that over the past two weeks, about 20 meters had to be replaced by the City.

She said the incidents usually happened between 3am and 5am.

Retreat Steenberg Civic Association communication liaison, Tony Lawrence, said this was a concern as it was not clear whether the thefts were escalated to the police after being reported to the City.

“A water meter is outside the gate and with many streets without surveillance, whether municipal or private cameras, these are being targeted. On top of that, our street lights have been out for days, and the moment it gets dark this presents an opportunity for criminals.

“We have raised this with the CPF and they have given us a commitment to try to find enough help in terms of law enforcement and police,” he said.

Due to the ongoing theft, the City said it was no longer installing brass meters as they had scrap value.

Last year, the City reported 2 198 cases of water meter theft from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021, with an average of 152 water meters a month stolen between July 2020 and April 2021.

The City also reported that on average, it costs about R2 600, excluding Vat, to replace a 15mm conventional brass meter and about R3 000, excluding Vat, to replace a 20mm conventional brass meter.

The City said the theft of water meters resulted in water wastage and was also a drain on its resources.

Steenberg CPF spokesperson Mark Rossouw said areas that had been targeted included Southfield, Heathfield, Retreat and Steenberg.

“The police are doing an adequate job of a situation that is difficult to police as this type of crime takes place during the early hours of the morning,” he said.

“There is a misconception that the criminals are targeting all water meters, but the truth is that they are only targeting the older metal water meters, which have a second-hand value, and the newer water metres have very little or no second-hand value.

“I would like to commend the police, as well as the neighbourhood watches for the collaborative work which resulted in the arrest last week,” Rossouw said.