Niël Terblanché
A fresh wave of copper cable theft has disrupted water supply to several Erongo towns in the space of one week.
Utilities were forced to ration limited water reserves while technicians rushed to restore power to affected boreholes.
The latest theft occurred just before midnight on Saturday, 21 June, when thieves cut the Ruby Main overhead power line supplying the Swartbank and Rooibank boreholes, which feed Walvis Bay.
The Namibia Water Corporation (NamWater) said the attack immediately cut off 650 cubic metres of water per hour to the port town.
NamWater’s spokesperson, Lot Ndamanomhata, said engineers had to redirect a reduced 200 cubic meters per hour from the High Dune and Dorop South wells to keep some supplies flowing.
“The Namibian Police and Erongo RED responded swiftly to the incident; however, the perpetrators managed to flee the scene. Erongo RED crews worked through the night and had power flowing again by 17:00 on Sunday, after which pumping resumed and normal operations have since been restored,” he said.
Ndamanomhata condemned the thefts, saying they undermine national development.
“These types of crimes are unpatriotic,” he said.
He urged residents to report any suspicious activity near water infrastructure.
Just days earlier, residents of Uis faced a similar disruption when vandals removed cables from the power line supplying the Nei-Neis Water Scheme.
The boreholes and booster stations there are the town’s only source of drinking water.
NamWater apologised to residents and assured them that the water supply would resume once electricity was restored.
On 17 June, Henties Bay residents woke to find that 13 Erongo RED poles on the Omdel line had been cut down and stripped of copper.
The theft halted electricity supply to the Omdel borehole field, causing Henties Bay’s reservoir to drop to 17% by midday.
Swakopmund, also supplied by Omdel, was unaffected due to its intake from the Wlotzkasbaken desalination plant.
The Henties Bay municipality connected a generator to one borehole to restore some pumping.
NamWater technicians joined Erongo RED crews to replace the damaged poles.
The town council urged residents to use water sparingly while repairs continued.
Water tankers were sent to assist both Henties Bay and Uis, where the reservoir had dropped to 40% following an earlier cable theft.
Police have not confirmed whether the three incidents are connected, but the rapid succession has placed pressure on the region’s ageing infrastructure and renewed calls for tighter security around water supply systems.
Ndamanomhata warned that stolen copper cables divert funds from infrastructure expansion to emergency repairs, slowing efforts to meet the demands of Erongo’s growing population.
He said the water supply has resumed in Walvis Bay, and pumping has restarted in both Uis and Henties Bay after damaged lines were fixed.
