Oudtshoorn, 15 March 2021 – The Oudtshoorn Municipality has recently been inundated with a number of vandalism incidents on its property, resulting to wastage of thousands of rand to either repair or replace the vandalised and stolen property.
At least two incidents of vandalism occurred in February. The Municipality is appealing to the public to help us maintain and preserve the public’s property and the vandalism is reaching an alarming rate.
The latest vandalism incident was discovered on Tuesday, 16 February 2021. The unknown perpetrator severely damaged Lights at Brook Pump Station near the Cango Wildlife Ranch at Baron Van Rheede Street. The damage is estimated to be roughly R150 000 worth of repairs.
Another vandalism incident was discovered on Monday, 15 February 2021. The street lights in Voortrekker Road, are out of order due to the community digging up the cables, and leaving the material damaged.
The Oudtshoorn Municipality is facing expensive repairing of municipal property due to vandalism. Vandalism has been a continuous issue in the Greater Oudtshoorn, where municipality has to issue out funds to repair or replace what was damaged.
This is putting a strain towards the Municipality; having to repair or replace what is damaged hinders the progress of what can be done with the funds of the Municipality. Vandalism is not only an unnecessary expense; it is also an illegal act. The destroying of any public property will have serious implications on any person seen vandalising.
The Municipality now faces fixing the lights as they are priority to have them working again. The Municipality has registered both incidents with the South African Police Service (SAPS) for investigation. To avoid this act of crime from continuing, please report it. If you have any information on the issue, please contact the Municipality on 044 203 3000/7800.