Cable theft 'nothing less than sabotage'

Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane has called for cable theft to be treated as serious economic sabotage following weeks of dry taps in major cities.

Mokonyane made the call as Gauteng entered a third week of disrupted water supplies and Rand Water said it would take two weeks for things to return to normal.

"It is time that cable theft was taken not as a petty crime but as [serious] economic sabotage," she told reporters at a briefing at the Rand Water control centre in Glenvista, southern Johannesburg.

Mokonyane said her department had sought the help of the security cluster of government ministries in strengthening the protection of water-supply infrastructure after electricity cables were stolen at a water pumping station last week. The power loss interrupted the distribution of water to thousands of households.

Questions are being asked about how the theft was possible, given that Rand Water is classified as a national key point, the highest security classification in the country.

Rand Water described the water crisis as the first of its kind in the 111-year history of the utility.

CEO Percy Sechemane claimed that water distribution had been "stabilised" but said the utility needed two weeks to get everything back to normal.

He said that, once water had been restored to Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, the challenge was the furthest parts going to Pretoria.

"We made a conscious decision: let us not follow the way that we do things normally. Let us bypass the reservoir there to make sure that people get water, to make sure that the demand today [yesterday] is not affected," Sechemane said.

Mokonyane said all provinces would be expected to provide a 10-year plan for investment in water infrastructure and maintenance.

Furthermore, 7% of the conditional grants made to municipalities by the Treasury would be reserved for the maintenance or replacement of ageing infrastructure.

The DA is to ask Mokonyane to present a turnaround plan for her department.

The department's annual report for the 2013-2014 financial year, tabled in parliament, showed about R172.4-million in irregular expenditure.

Fruitless and wasteful expenditure amounted to R26.4-million.

An additional R748.6-million was recorded as irregular expenditure by the department's water-trading unit.

Frustrated employees tried to carry on with business as usual at the Hyde Park Corner shopping centre in northern Johannesburg, which had been without water since the previous evening.

Toilet cisterns had to be filled with bottled water and restaurants could not serve freshly brewed coffee.

Felicia Ntisa, owner of the Sorbet Nails stores, was angry.

"It is affecting our business because we are doing manicures and pedicures, and obviously we rely on water for that. We also provide coffee and tea for our clients.

"We are using bottled water for now and it is expensive."

The water supply at the upmarket shopping centre was restored last night.