Water meter thieves still at it

As the community awaits the first official working date of the recently appointed street patrol teams which were established in various parts of Tzaneen last month, the theft and vandalism of municipal infrastructure continues unabated.

The new street patrollers and newly established CPF are set to complete their training before the end of June this year after which they will start their daily patrols. The idea behind the street patrollers is to curb the current wave of vandalism and crimes in the residential areas and lighten the load on the local security companies and police force with which they will be working closely.

This morning (Friday the 5th of May) residents in Medi Park, more specifically those along First and Second Avenue, awoke to the sight of another six leaking pipes after water meters were stolen by unknown suspects sometime during the evening.

In recent weeks we have reported on the regular vandalism and theft of water meters, minisubs and in some cases entire fire hydrants. In most of these cases the theft occurred in Medi Park and Flora Park. Another area of concern to local security companies and the Greater Tzaneen Municipality, is Frederick Street in Medi Park where water meters have attracted the unwanted attention of presumably the same group of thieves. We have sent an inquiry to the GTM’s spokesperson, Vutivi Makhubele, to find out how many water meters the municipality have lost to theft in the past few months and what the financial implications of this thievery were.