Water meter thefts in Hillary, Bellair and Seaview cause massive upset
Dozens of water meter thefts in Hillary, Bellair and Seaview have resulted in litres of leave water being wasted while residents wait for replacement meters to be fitted and the damage to be repaired.
FOLLOWING an unprecedented number of water meter thefts, Ward 65 Councillor for Queensburgh, Samantha Windvogel has put out an urgent appeal to people living in the Hillary, Seaview and Bellair areas to report such thefts.
“Over the last two weeks, over 50 water meters have been stolen from Seaview, Bellair and Hillary areas,” said Windvogel in a statement to one of the area’s neighbourhood watch groups on Wednesday, 27 February.
“Just last night alone, eight water meters were stolen from Waverley Road, Richard King Road and Valarie Road in Hillary,” she said adding that she had been told that only four of these cases had been reported to the police. “These thieves are selling the old brass water meters to plumbers or a scrap dealer,” she said.
Hillary resident, Tracy van Zyl said she and neighbours of hers in the Windham Avenue area are seeing huge water loss due to water gushing into properties and the road after three homes in the road had suffered the theft of their meters overnight.
“My neighbours were affected,” she explained. “I have their water streaming into my yard.”
Van Zyl said the thefts had taken place overnight and her neighbours told her they had reported the matter just after 11pm on Tuesday, 26 February. “Right now it is 9.30am and we are still waiting for someone to come,” she said.
By 10.30am van Zyl told the Queensburgh News that municipal workers had arrived on the scene and had closed off the water but were unable to replace the meter unless the resident involved could provide proof that their water bill was fully paid.
“They said they won’t replace the meter unless my neighbour can show her account and proof of payment that her account is up to date. He says if the meter is broken they will replace it straight away. If stolen they need proof the account is up to date,” said van Zyl who spoke to the man from the municipality who had arrived to fix the pipe.
Van Zyl sent the Queensburgh News a photo showing the water pipe coming out of the ground where her neighbour’s water meter used to be. “That’s all he has done,” she said of the municipal worker that had arrived. “Now he is waiting for payment confirmation.”
In the case of van Zyl’s neighbour, the meter was finally fixed after the neighbour was able to provide proof of payment. “The municipality has fixed my neighbour’s meter. Finally,” she said just after 11.15am.
The thefts are causing a lot of expense for people in the area and Windvogel fears that many simply cannot afford the high bills they will be left with as a result of the thefts.
In order to prevent these thefts, the councillor urged people to apply for a change to a plastic water meter which wouldn’t be as attractive to thieves. “Please go to customer care in Prior Road with your water bill and ID document and request to change over to the plastic water meter,” she said.
Windvogel said that those who had been affected by these thefts could make a claim for water loss if they were paying their water loss levy and that she was going to be putting pressure on the city to convert the people with old metal meters to the new plastic ones as soon as possible.
Bellair SAPS communication officer, Sgt Pam Pillay echoed Windvogel’s urging of residents to report these crimes. She said despite misconceptions that the homeowner, or city, as the owners of the meters are the only ones who can report the theft, anyone could report such an incident at the charge office.
“It is a theft, pure and simple, and anyone can come into the station and lay a charge,” said Pillay who has also recently urged the community to report any and all crime, no matter how small or petty it might seem.
At time of publication of the story the city communications department had not responded to requests for comment.
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