Criminals in a small South African town are stealing water meters and selling them as scrap metal

The Tzaneen Municipality is experiencing a water infrastructure theft crisis, with criminals stealing water meters and fire hydrants.

This causes water supply disruptions, infrastructure damage, and financial hardship for residents in the area.

Criminals initially targeted copper water meters for their scrap value. However, they are now stealing meters regardless of whether they are made from copper or plastic.

These criminals have now started targeting water hydrants, which marks a dangerous escalation of this organised criminal activity.

The removal of meters and hydrants causes water losses, damages municipal and household connections, and interrupts the water supply.

The broken fire hydrants also pose a risk when there are fires which cannot be extinguished, and place additional pressure on the water network.

Although the municipality generally replaces municipal meters, affected homeowners remain responsible for damage caused to connections on their properties.

Tzaneen’s nightly water shedding further compounds the problem by providing criminals with cover to tamper with water infrastructure undetected.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Greater Tzaneen says the municipality fails to report these crimes. The SA Police Service is also not investigating them.

“The SAPS initially refused to open a docket following our complaint,” the DA said after it reported this crime.

“The matter was escalated to the relevant Brigadier, who undertook to designate a specific officer to assist with water-meter and hydrant theft cases.”

It said that the SA Police Service should register and investigate every complaint and gather evidence to catch the criminals.

They should also increase visible policing and night patrols, and inspect scrapyards, second-hand goods dealers, and other possible outlets for stolen infrastructure.

“Tzaneen residents cannot live under siege while their town is being pilfered. They deserve safe and crime-free neighbourhoods,” the DA said.