The Vhembe District Municipality (VDM) is encouraging residents to work together with the municipality in guarding municipal infrastructure against criminal activities and vandalism. This follows complaints by Tshakhuma residents after cables at the purification plant next to the Tshakhuma dam were stolen for a second time in a month on Thursday, 23 June.
The first incident of cable theft at the purification plant was in May this year. The two purification plants at Tshakhuma normally supply water to wards 28 and 29, but only ward 29 is currently receiving water from the one functioning plant, while residents from ward 28 have to collect water from the mountains.
Joel Mulaudzi, secretary of the Tshakhuma South African National Civic, feels that the municipality should provide armed security personnel at the purification plants as these are situated far from the village. He suggested that the municipality deploy men during the night and women during the day to guide the purification plant from being vandalised.
In response to this, VDM spokesperson Matodzi Ralushai said that community structures should also start to play their part. "The vandalism of municipal infrastructure is a major concern and high risk in the district as it compromises the council's commitment to provide quality services to the community of Vhembe. Fighting crime needs the involvement of all stakeholders. Security clusters alone cannot prevent cable theft, illegal connections, or other forms of vandalism. It is time for community structures to join hands with stakeholders to protect municipal assets as it is their taxes that are being used," said Ralushai.
"The Tshakhuma incident is not an isolated case. This is now a crisis that requires a high level of government intervention," he added. Ralushai urged residents not to buy stolen cables as this merely supported criminal activity in the area.
Asked what plans the community could have to fight cable theft and any other criminal activities, Mulaudzi replied: "The only available plans are to embark on a campaign to teach our people not to vandalise government infrastructure and further to report whoever is found with stolen goods."