The City of Cape Town says it was forced to spend more than R15 million for stolen and vandalised water and sanitation infrastructure between July 2024 and June 2025.

Critical items that were either stolen or damaged include taps in informal settlements, sewer manhole covers, water meters, as well as valve and fire hydrant covers.

The City’s Water and Sanitation Directorate is again calling on the public to help safeguard this vital infrastructure by reporting information related to vandalism and theft, as it is also the ratepayers that are suffering due to the costs incurred to replace.

The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Water and Sanitation, Zahid Badroodien, says such acts are completely unacceptable.

‘Each act of criminality drains millions from our budget, diverts valuable time and resources away from essential services, and puts communities at risk.’

Badroodien says in formal residential areas alone, the City attended to over 8,700 incidents of theft and vandalism, costing more than R14 million.

This includes replacing missing fire hydrant covers, water meter manhole covers, damaged manholes, valve covers and stolen stopcocks. The two highest costs were replacing more than 3,000 manhole covers (at a cost of R3,8 million) and 2 600 stolen water meters (costing R7,5 million).

Across the city’s 702 informal settlement pockets, over 1,200 incidents were recorded, costing R1,1 million to repair or replace.

This includes missing manhole covers, rodding eyes, taps, toilet doors, toilet containers, toilet pans as well as the top structures to the City-supplied toilets.

About 72% of the budget (over R835 000) was used to replace 923 missing or stolen taps in informal settlements. This greatly hinders the water supply to thousands of residents residing in informal settlements.

‘These incidents of vandalism and theft directly affect thousands of residents by disrupting water access and sewer safety. Something as simple as a stolen tap means a whole community can be left struggling to access water.’

Reporting channels

Residents are encouraged to report incidents of theft and vandalism in progresss to the City’s Public Emergency Communication Centre (PECC) on 021 480 7700.

Alternatively, the public can share tips for a potential reward via the City’s 24-hr tip-off line on 0800 110 077.

Report water and sanitation service requests and vandalism damage to one of the following channels (Residents need to provide the street address, and get a reference number):

• WhatsApp 060 018 1505
• Online www.capetown.gov.za/servicerequests
• Email water@capetown.gov.za
• SMS 31373 (maximum 160 characters. Standard rates apply)
• Call 0860 103 089
• Visit a City walk-in centre