Ward 45 councillor Mandy Marr is urging residents to come forward with information about cables that were vandalised at Retreat pump station on Sunday 16 January.
“There are two cables. One is no longer functional due to the continuous theft, which leaves us with one cable that must be protected by all means possible.
“The pump station is currently working on generators with the crew spending hours repairing the damage.”
Marr says the cables to the facility are being vandalised beyond repairs.
“The problem is that we have only one cable running to the pump station because the other cable has been vandalised so much it is beyond repair.
“We already have a huge issue with sewage in our area. How are we going to stand together and stop people from destroying the infrastructure?”
She added that vandalism is severely impacting on service delivery in the area.
“I’m appealing to the community to please stop the vandalising of cables, it is affecting the entire area. It’s affecting Hill View, Vrygrond and the Overcome Heights area.
“We need to, as a community, come together and find a way to stop these cables from being stolen.”
Marr says often community members are too afraid to speak up.
“The cable was stolen down the road and residents do see or observe the cables being stolen, but are too scared to say something. We need to find a way to stand up against cable theft.”
Lovemore Mtisi, Senior Superintendent at Muizenberg Electricity Depot, said each time the cable was installed, it would be stolen the following day.
“The Retreat Main Sewage to Soutpansberg 11kv feeder was vandalised last year and the project to replace that cable was abandoned due to regular theft which results in wasteful expenditure. Each time the cable was installed, it would be stolen the following day.”
Mtisi added that supply to Retreat Main Sewage Plant is now coming through Zerilda Park.
“This feeder was vandalised again over the weekend resulting in loss of supply.”
