Quick action saves sewage plant from shutdown

By Ofentse Mokae
28 October 2009

Quick action by the City of Cape Towns’s metal theft unit, known as the Copperheads , has saved the city’s Waste Water Treatment plant in Macassar, from closure for as long as three months.

Thieves stole mesh covers, checker plates that cover drains, mesh walkways, galvanised guard railings and an incline conveyer cover and lining valued at R30 000 from the plant.

The conveyer cover and lining were specifically designed by a company in Johannesburg and replacement could have taken up to three months, leaving the plant dysfunctional for that time.

In a statement the city’s Neil Arendse says when the Copperheads were alerted to the theft they immediately questioned all the scrap metal dealers in the vicinity.

“One revealed that he had bought metal components from the plant without being aware of their origin,” said Neil Arendse.

He says the dealer provided details of the sellers but, before these leads could be followed up, the suspects returned with more items stolen from the plant and were arrested.