This follows residents’ complaints about a missing manhole cover at the corner of Desmond and Middle roads in Morningside, which they say had been missing for the past year.
Bertha Peters-Scheepers of the agency confirmed that the missing manhole cover had since been replaced.
“Manhole covers are stolen all over the city area by thieves who sell them to scrap metal dealers,” she said. “In the past year alone 3 063 missing manhole covers have been reported to us.”
She added that the city council was faced with the enormous cost of replacing the stolen covers. To replace about 1 000 manhole covers costs the city council R4.2 million.
To curb the problem, Peters-Scheepers said the agency would be implementing an initiative to replace all concrete and iron manhole covers with covers made from plastic and polymer.
“In addition the agency will launch a community based anti-vandalism project to get communities involved in curbing this deliberate sabotage of the city’s infrastructure assets,” she said.
Peters-Scheepers urged residents to engage in the city council’s active citizenry initiative, and report theft and vandalism to its call centre or report criminal activities to the police.
Details: City council call centre 0860 562 874
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