ILLEGAL water connections are a persistent problem in the Ugu district. Investigations by its technical team revealed that various households within in the district are consuming Ugu water illegally.
A recent detection of this case was a meter at a farm near Uvongo which was reportedly installed by Ugu on a property where people were dwelling illegally.
Owner Fred Lauterbach has laid trespassing charges against the squatters. He also discovered that an Ugu water meter had been installed for them.
An investigation by Ugu revealed that the meter was in fact illegally installed. “The meter number is very unclear and it seems that an attempt to erase the meter number was made,” said Ugu spokesman Sipho Khuzwayo.
“This meter was not installed in the prescribed manner but away from the nearest supply line,” he added.
He also explained that the municipality does not have the connection of this property on record. “This clearly means this household was not connected by the municipality and they are illegally consuming water,” he emphasised.
He assured that the municipality would follow the process of dealing with an illegal connection. “The municipality highly condemns illegal connection as this derails service delivery. Communities are urged to report illegal water connections or any other forms of fraud and corruption,” he concluded.
Contact 0801 111660 or email information@whistleblowing.co.za, or fax: 086 5222 816.
