As Laudium residents once more face a water crises, with taps running dry again this week, due to supply problems from the local reservoir, with the Tshwane Council blaming Rand Water, and Rand Water in turn laying the blame on the Tshwane Council, many residents are also facing another problem concerning water supply to their homes.
The theft of water pipes and more specifically, copper water pipes from homes, is once more becoming a nightmare for residents. Many residents believe that this theft or petty theft is carried out by nyaopes who freely roam the streets of Laudium, many of whom wait for any opportunity to pounce on homes that are easy targets, stealing just about anything, including copper water pipes, to earn a few Rands by selling these, whilst causing hundreds of Rands in damages to the owner who has to repair it. At least four incidents of theft of water pipes were reported to the Laudium Sun last week, one of them being from a home on Taj Street, that occurred in the morning of last Thursday, during broad daylight. Muzzamil Tayob, of Taj Street, explained to the Laudium Sun, the events that led him to discover the theft of water copper pipes from the yard of his home. “It was around 10am, when I went to the bathroom and noticed that the water was not running from the tap. When I enquired from my family, they informed me that there was water earlier in the morning, so we thought perhaps it was again a problem at the reservoir and that the whole of Laudium was affected. But then, after talking to a friend who stays nearby, I learnt that other homes in the area did have water. I immediately called a plumber, thinking maybe something was wrong with our water system or there was a leak somewhere. Just as I was done with the call, I decided to go outside, to check if I could spot any leaks. I then saw water gushing out from a short pipe coming out from the ground, near the gate. On further investigation, I discovered that all the pipes coming from the main supply outside were missing, up to that leading into the house. That’s when I realized that the copper pipes feeding water into our house had been stolen. Luckily the plumber came quickly and replaced the copper pipes with new PVC pipes, so that hopefully they don’t get stolen. It cost us almost a thousand Rand, with labour, to fix the problem. It is so unfair that people can just enter our property and steal what they want and get away with it. I am not sure who stole our pipes, but I suspect that it could be these nyaope guys, who are in full force on the streets nowadays. I heard that any copper material is selling fast at the scrapyards, without any checks as to where they are sourced from. This is very bad, especially for us living on the hill. We are struggling with water already, and now these guys are stealing the water pipes and wasting so much water due to the leaks. We opened a police case, so that the police are aware of the trend. I hope something will be done to stop such criminal acts.”
Sergeant Simon Chokoe, of the Laudium Police Station, said, “A case of theft has been opened with the police and investigations are underway. No arrests have been made yet. I urge residents to come forward if they know of any person/s who are selling such items or buying these, so that the police can question them. Working together we can stop crime in our community”.
