Amid Vhembe residents' frustrations about the lack of basic service delivery in the district, thugs destroyed the Damani raw-water pump station last Thursday night (21st).
An unknown group allegedly entered the pump station and destroyed all the panel pumps, leaving the whole station damaged beyond any prospect of repair in the near future
According to the process-control manager at Damani, Ms Elekanyani Mudau, the thugs waited for loadshedding to commence before they struck. "It is clear that they did not come here to steal cables, but to destroy the whole plant," she said.
When asked about how long fixing the plant would take, she said doing so would take months as the water plant was destroyed beyond repair. "It is high time that the community starts working hand in glove with law enforcement agencies to apprehend the culprits. This is a disaster," she said.
The Damani raw-water pump station provides water to more than 50 villages under the Tshivhase royal house's control. These include areas such as Donald Fraser Hospital and more than 30 clinics.
A resident who once worked as a guard at the water plant, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Department of Water Affairs must employ more security officers to guard the pump station, which is situated in the bush. "This place cannot be guarded by one or two security officers. It is very dangerous. One day I had to run for my life when armed men came here to steal cables. They were armed to the teeth, while all I had was a knobkierie," he said.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Vhembe District Municipality, Mr Matodzi Ralushai, said the destruction of infrastructure was a big challenge to the municipality. "This causes a big strain on the municipality's budget. Instead of improving on our mandate to deliver services to all the residents of Vhembe District, we spend a big chunk of the budget fixing damaged infrastructure," he said.
He added that he personally called this sabotage. "It is not happening here in our district only, it is happening all over the country," he said.