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, more than 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.
Posting a copy of a letter she had sent to the city, Windvogel said she was pleased to report the city’s water department has agreed to replace all meters that are more than 15 years old with plastic water meters.
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“Please feel free to contact Zlungile Memela on 03 1322 8568 or Murray McClung on 0658346423.”
Windvogel said while some houses in Seaview had received letters already she was expecting other areas to be covered in due course.
“All brass meters do not meet current EWS specifications,” explained Windvogel when asked by a resident on her Facebook page if there would be a charge to residents for the replacement. “The Water Department is doing a sweep of those and replacing them with plastic meters with plastic covers. However, to answer your question, the municipality will check on their system for the exact year of meter installation.”
Hillary resident, Tracy van Zyl, told the Queensburgh News that following the theft of her neighbour’s water meter one night, they saw water pouring out of the pipes that had been damaged. She said the water loss was very alarming and although her meter hadn’t been stolen, there had been water streaming into her property. “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.
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.
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 t said she would put pressure on the city to convert 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 only the homeowner, or city, as the owners of the meters, 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.
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