Residents of Louis Trichardt, whose taps have been dry for days now after a major burst on the main pipeline pumping water from the Albasini Dam, are in for some more bad news.
DA councillor Brian du Plooy has just announced that although the burst section of the pipeline had been repaired, vandals had completely stripped the pump station at the Albasini raw-water treatment plant of almost every single piece of copper wire. They were able to do so because the power had been switched off to allow officials to fix the pipe burst.
By this morning, some residents claimed that they had been without water for almost a week. The water shortage was initially caused by a major pipe burst on the main pipeline, which officials managed to fix temporarily on Sunday. The temporary fix, however, did not hold and sprung another major leak.
Municipal spokesperson for the Vhembe District Municipality Mr Moses Shibambu confirmed on Monday that officials were doing their best to restore the water supply. Exactly how long they will take to repair the vandalised pump station is unknown at this stage.