Cape Town - The City of Cape Town has condemned the vicious arson attack at its sewer pump station in Wallacedene in Kraaifontein at the weekend.
It said it was alerted to the arson attack on Saturday and this prompted an emergency response from its sewer maintenance team.
Preliminary investigations into the arson have revealed both electrical and mechanical equipment required for the pump station to function at full capacity was destroyed in the blaze.
According to the City, the costs to repair this facility, which has a critical function in conveying sewage from homes and businesses to wastewater treatment plants, could mount to hundreds of thousands of rand.
The City’s water and sanitation department is urging anyone with information to come forward so the matter can be investigated and the perpetrators brought to book.
“This act of vandalism has resulted in sewer overflows and flooding at the pump station as well as the linked sewer network throughout Wallacedene.
“This will also impact on the surrounding communities and the receiving natural environment. “With the winter rains looming and the pump station not working, rainwater will dilute the sewage and spill into the streets, giving rise to potential health concerns.
“Furthermore, raw sewage that enters the environment will affect water quality in the system, making it unusable for water users downstream, such as farmers,” said mayoral committee member for water and sanitation, Councillor Zahid Badroodien.
He said his department’s sewer teams are currently exploring alternative options to eliminate and reduce the impact as far as is possibly practical to do.
Badroodien said this will include diverting flow from the damaged pump station to other parts of the sewer network where possible.
“The use of sewer tankers and over-pumping methods are, for the time being, logistically not possible.
“The level of infrastructure destruction caused by this criminal incident will see this very critical pump station out of operation for quite some time, which will also negatively impact the surrounding areas over the same period.
“The public is assured that this matter is a priority for us and our team will continue to monitor this matter closely,” Badroodien said.
He also reminded residents of the R5 000 reward offered to anyone who reports incidents or information related to theft and vandalism of water and sanitation infrastructure that leads to a successful arrest or recovery of stolen items.
“‘The reward of up to R5 000 underscores the City’s efforts to combat the malicious destruction to our infrastructure.
“Additionally, it will help to encourage residents to be vigilant and to protect public infrastructure.
“A zero tolerance approach must be adopted if we are serious about tackling this attack head-on.
“At the end of the day, it is the public’s rates and tariffs that pay for the repair and replacement of infrastructure that is vandalised – money that could be used to expand the pipe replacement programme or conduct other proactive maintenance work,” Badroodien said.
Residents and all other stakeholders needed to work together to clamp down on theft and vandalism, he said.
Tampering, theft and vandalism of essential electricity infrastructure, including cables supplying power to pump stations, is seen as a priority crime due to the extremely negative impact on the rights of communities. Should a perpetrator be found guilty it could land them a of maximum 30 years’ imprisonment or they could be fined a maximum of R100 million.
Residents who have seen anything are urged to contact the emergency call centre on 107 from a landline and 021 480 7700 from a cellphone.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
IOL