The Department of Water and Sanitation is urging Limpopo communities to refrain from damaging water infrastructure if they want to ensure effective supply.

This comes after the department’s vehicles were set alight and construction equipment destroyed when protests by the Finale community in the Maruleng Local Municipality turned violent.

Lesiba Tloubatla, the Department’s Regional Head in Limpopo, is appealing to the people of the province to respect the infrastructure that plays a part in ensuring sure that they have running water.

“We call on communities not to damage departmental infrastructure during protest action. What we saw in the community of Finale in the Maruleng Local Municipality is very disturbing to say the least.  People should learn to understand that government property belongs to them, and they need to take care of it”, Tloubatla notes.

He adds that everyone has a right to protest when they are not satisfied with the services they are getting from government; however the vandalism of infrastructure cannot be condoned.

“Some parts of the province are experiencing water shortages due to drought and we try to put resources in place to ensure that our systems do not fail. When people vandalise and damage our infrastructure, it will cost us more to replace it and water provision to communities will be affected”, he explains.