OR Tambo mayor warns attacks on municipal assets hurt communities

OR Tambo district municipality mayor Mesuli Ngqondwana has warned that attacks on municipal assets are undermining service delivery, saying it is communities that ultimately bear the cost. His comments come days after a Toyota Hilux bakkie belonging to the district municipality was recovered in Qumbu after it was hijacked in Mthatha last month. Municipal spokesperson Ncebakazi Kolwane said the vehicle was hijacked on June 20 at about 2pm near the Ncambedlana water reservoir while an employee was carrying out official duties.

“The employee was at the reservoir as part of his official municipal duties,” she said. “At the time of the incident, the only other person present on the site was a security guard. According to the employee’s account, two people accosted him before hijacking the bakkie.

The case was reported to Madeira police station.” Kolwane said the employee had been monitoring water levels at the facility when the hijacking occurred. She said the vehicle was recovered in a private yard in Qumbu on Saturday but had been stripped of several parts. “The affected employees were referred to the municipality’s employee wellness unit for appropriate support and assistance,” she said.

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Eastern Cape police spokesperson Col Siphokazi Mawisa had not responded to questions by the time of publication. Ngqondwana praised the police’s Tactical Response Team for recovering the vehicle but said the incident highlighted the wider impact of attacks on municipal infrastructure. “This recovery is encouraging, but it also highlights a painful truth: every attack on a municipal asset is an attack on the community it serves,” he said.

“A hijacked vehicle, a vandalised water scheme, stolen electrical cables or a stripped pump station does not punish the municipality. It delays water reaching households, disrupts essential services and diverts scarce public funds from development to replacing what criminals have destroyed.”

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