Farmers steal water from Hazelmere
Several Umhlali farmers were interdicted from stealing water from Hazelmere dam for their personal crop irrigation.
|||Durban - Several Umhlali farmers were interdicted on Tuesday from stealing water from the Hazelmere Dam for their personal crop irrigation.
The interim order was granted by Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Johan Ploos van Amstel.
Court papers indicate that large-scale theft of water for crop irrigation had exacerbated North Coast drought conditions.
The source of the stolen water, Hazelmere Dam, is only 29% full.
Umgeni legal manager, Tshepe Maake, said in an affidavit that criminal charges of water theft and vandalism had been laid at the Umhlali police station against the alleged perpetrators, identified as Rangasamy and Muniamah Valayadam.
The other suspects live at Odoro Farm in the same area.
Maake said the suspects allegedly broke the locks of concrete scour chambers and opened valves, allowing water to flow to their storage dams, some of which held copious amounts of water for irrigation.
Maake said crops were flourishing on the Valayadam farm while the rest of the area suffered the devastating effects of the drought.
Ernest Ndlovu, superintendent of Hazelmere Dam, received several complaints about Odoro’s alleged theft and vandalism.
At one inspection he and his associates found a scour chamber vandalised to the extent that water was spraying out.
Another chamber was found in a dense sugar cane field. A hole had been drilled through the concrete chamber, allowing water to flow to one of the suspect’s vegetable gardens.
Maake said the financial prejudice suffered by Umgeni was significant because of the size of the suspects’ storage dams, which were mostly found to be full. He said the theft seemed to have taken place over a long period.
To facilitate the theft, and to divert the water to their farms, the suspects broke expensive Umgeni Water equipment, he said.
Maake said because of the vandalism, Umgeni Water had to replace the damaged items, increase security, monitor water supplies and install theft-detection equipment.
The case has been adjourned for the respondents to file papers.
Daily News
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