- Days without water felt by Disa 1 and 2 informal settlements in Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay have led to desperate outrage, protest action and damage to public property, with tyres burnt at the Gateway Circle on Wednesday evening 29 November.
- Vandalised infrastructure with a stolen copper-ball valve, belonging to facilities that provide water to those areas, was discovered on Thursday morning, 30 November, near the Hout Bay cemetery.
- A water tanker has been parked since early Thursday morning at the Hout Bay Police Station.
Days
without water felt by Disa 1 and 2 informal settlements in Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay have led to desperate outrage, protest action and damage to public property,
with tyres burnt at the Gateway Circle on Wednesday evening 29 November while
City of Cape Town officials attempted to find the source of the problem.
The
protest action and damage to the road surrounding the Gateway Circle was
confirmed by Hout Bay Police Station Commander Lt Col Jerome Syster on Thursday
morning. “Besides the damage caused to the road,” he said, “we have
not received any other official reports of damage to public or private
property. We await further reports from the community to open cases in
instances where damage was sustained.”
This
prompted Ward 74 councillor Rob Quintas to state: “The water woes and misery
felt by Imizamo Yethu’s Depot and Disa 1 and 2 communities have been confirmed
to have been caused by criminal elements who care nothing for their fellow
residents and whose actions must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.”
He
further indicated vandalised infrastructure with a stolen copper-ball valve, belonging to facilities that provide water to those
areas, was discovered on Thursday morning, 30 November, near the Hout
Bay cemetery.
“Criminals
had cleverly bent the pipe and covered it back over with soil, preventing water
gushing out and being visible,” Quintas related. “This explains why
Water and Sanitation had been unable to locate the source of problem and
resolve it up until now.”
Water
supply was said to have been restored via temporary measures, added Quintas,
“and work is being done today to install permanent repairs that will make it
more difficult for thugs and thieves to cause misery in their communities.”
Residents
of the Informal Settlements began escalating their reference numbers to Quintas on Wednesday, and the People’s Post, too, received video footage from
locals showing dry taps being turned to no avail.
A
water tanker has been parked since early Thursday morning at the Hout Bay
Police Station.
“Teams
will also look for alternative water-supply sources until such time as the full
repairs have been completed,” continued Quintas, who urged residents to remain
calm, make use of the tankers and alternative supplies, “and allow the
officials to help fix the problem, with no interference or intimidation.
“Those people in
our communities who feel they are entitled to steal and tamper with City assets
need to be stopped. Those crimes are not victimless, and in fact have a direct
impact on the lives of communities and cause friction which in itself causes
fear and damages to public property, such as roads.”
