City flowers to suffer

Cape Town blooms could soon wither after metal thieves stripped a compost plant used to supply them with nutrients.

Councillor Ernest Sonnenberg, responsible for utility services, said yesterday that the Radnor compost plant, which has been in operation since the 1960s, had been stripped of five air-conditioners and wires, causing a loss worth more than R1-million.

Sonnenberg bemoaned a lack of strict regulations in the scrap metal industry.

"The number of repeat offenders arrested suggests that the penalties attached to this crime are disproportionate to the impact that it has on vulnerable communities," said Sonnenberg.