Tshwane water and sanitation department officials came under attack while cracking down on illegal connections at the Mabopane reservoir on Thursday.
According to the city, the officials were held hostage for some time and threatened with violence when angry residents who had connected illegally to the network blocked the entrance of the reservoir with rocks to prevent the officials who had finished disconnections from leaving.
The officials, who were accompanied by a Tshwane metro police department team, fled the scene unharmed after police backup was summoned.
Tshwane conducted the disconnections in a bid to address illegal water connections on its water distribution system.
“The paying customers in the above areas have endured intermittent water supply outages due to the illegal and criminal actions of the residents who live in and around the reservoir,” the city said.
TimesLIVE
