Ekurhuleni substitutes metal thieves’ favourite item
Stealing manhole covers, and children falling into the holes, is slowly but surely becoming a thing of the past as Ekurhuleni rolls out branded orange plastic manhole covers, replacing the theft-prone metal covers.
The replacement of old cast-iron covers is one of the municipality’s efforts to curb vandalism and theft of manhole covers.
“The new plastic covers do not have the monetary value that the metal thieves are looking for and we believe it is a ground breaking intervention to put an end to this malicious crime.
“Of great value to the residents is the reduction of the risk of falling into the manholes,” says Ekurhuleni spokesman, Themba Gadebe.
Gadebe added that the new manhole covers will also go a long way in decreasing the number of overflowing sewers which are mainly caused by foreign objects being dumped into open manholes.
Furthermore, a task team has been set up to visit scrapyards across Ekurhuleni in search of any cast iron manhole covers and other municipal-owned property that was traded for money.
In cases where scrapyards are found in possession of council-owned items, a charge of theft will be laid against the owners of the company.
The municipality must be able to prove that the items are council property.
Ekurhuleni encourages residents to continue reporting missing manhole covers and any suspicious or illegal activity by calling the call centre on 0860 543 000.
