Water thief arrested in Ravensmead

By Chanel September
26 June 2007

Five water meters and six stop valves were recovered by the City of Cape Town’s special task team on Monday after a resident was arrested in connection with the theft.

The Ravensmead resident was arrested when he was found in possession of several municipal water meters.

The identification numbers on the stolen equipment could be traced back to houses in Ravensmead, Parow and Elsies River.

“Syndicates ‘employ’ individuals to steal copper cable, metal sheeting, grids, ladders, water meters, taps and manhole covers. These are then melted down and sold to scrap metal merchants for a few rand,” says chairperson of the Cable Theft Task Team, Pieter van Dalen.

“Over the past year alone the municipality has lost over R22 million as a result of the theft of non-ferrous metals. This results in less money being available for other municipal services such as street lighting and speed humps,” says van Dalen.

Report any suspicious activity to the City’s 24 hour Cable Theft Hotline on 0800 222 771.

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