Cape Town - Work on a sewer in Hazeldene, outside Cape Town, was again disrupted by a robbery on Thursday night, leading municipal officials to believe the attacks were politically motivated.
“It is now suspected that there’s a political agenda preventing the City [of Cape Town] from resolving the issue in Hazeldene,” said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Utility Services, Councillor Ernest Sonnenberg.
“These individuals did not simply want to steal diesel, but by sabotaging the over-pumping system, have shown a clear intention to undermine the work the City is doing in the area.”
The sewer was first robbed in August 2014, followed by 19 other attacks.
On Wednesday, in the 20th attack, criminals held up the contractors’ security guards and stole diesel used to fuel machinery.
As a result, the road was flooded until 9am when over-pumping returned to full-function.
The attack on Thursday saw security guards interrupting robbers who were draining the machinery of diesel.
However, this time the thieves cut the delivery hose of the sewage over-pumping system before fleeing.
“We would like to assure the community of Hazeldene that, despite the risk to workers and equipment, the over-pumping is always restored in the shortest possible time to limit the effect on affected communities,” said Sonnenberg.
African News Agency