Cable thieves struck twice over the past weekend, first at the no. 3 pump station near Ridgeway College on Friday night, and then at the main pump station next to the railway line early on Monday morning. The latter station was vandalized just two weeks ago, when thieves made off with about 17m of copper cable.

Residents were left without water for a number of hours in both instances, since maintenance teams had to undertake the arduous task of replacing the stolen cables once again. As reported before, this is becoming a very costly exercise for the municipality and, by default, for the town’s taxpayers. If one takes into account that the copper cable used at the pump stations costs around R900 per meter, replacing the stolen cable becomes a very costly matter. This does not even take into account the fees of the contractors who have to do the replacements and repairs, as well as the inconvenience to residents who have to make do without water for the time it takes to replace the cable and the reservoirs to fill up. Furthermore, because the reservoirs eventually run dry, a lot of sediment and unsavoury residue enter the system, resulting in the clogging up and possible breaking down of geysers and other equipment connected to the water supply.

According to an independent contractor who is responsible for doing some of the repairs at pump stations when cable theft occurs, the damage so far is in the region of R100 000. The municipal spokesperson of the Makhado Municipality, Mr Louis Bobodi, indicated that thefts of this nature are causing the municipality major headaches and are interfering with service delivery.

"We are now pleading with scrap metals companies around town not to buy stolen cables from thieves. We are also going to hold meetings with them to address this challenge," said Bobodi.

As a result of the shortage of water in town, Bobodi is now urging residents not to use municipal water to water their gardens.

"We have very limited water at the moment," he said.

Due to the current water problems in the municipal area, the communities will only receive water from 05:00 till 17:00. After 17:00, the water supply will be suspended to do essential maintenance and repair work. Residents should therefore make provision for this suspension by planning ahead on how to deal with the lack of water.

A question that needs to be answered, however, is whether the municipality should not perhaps consider employing a security firm to guard its pump stations, especially at night. If one takes the cost of repairs to date into account, such a move might well prove to be a cheaper, more efficient option.