The City of Tshwane has removed illegal water connections at the Mamelodi Reservoir 4, which was causing outages in Mamelodi East.
The pipeline illegally supplying water to an informal settlement in the area was removed on Tuesday by the city's water and sanitation department.
The intervention came after complaints by residents of Mamelodi Extensions 4 and 5, Mahube Valley and Ikageng, who had been experiencing prolonged water outages.
The city’s spokesperson, Lindela Mashigo, said after the complaints the region 6 water and sanitation unit, which is responsible for the upkeep of the infrastructure and water supply, in conjunction with bulk water services, inspected the water network.
“It was through this check-up that a ground-bound pipeline that served as an illegal conduit of water to the nearby Baviaanspoort informal settlement was discovered,” he said.
Mashigo said the Tshwane metro police maintained visibility throughout the operation to ensure the safety of the artisans while disconnecting the pipe.
To prevent a reoccurrence, “The pipeline was cut up, rendering it unusable. The city has also ensured the closure of window frames with steel slates to make it difficult to break into the reservoir chamber where the illegal connection was made.”
He said the reservoir is gradually picking up, now that the municipality has removed the illegal connection and adjusted the pressure.
