Town Engineer in the Rundu Town Council, Sakaria Shopati, says the institution lost about N$3 million in the 2023–2024 financial year due to vandalism and infrastructure theft. 

Shopati says despite the Town Council's attempts to upgrade service infrastructure, the local population is hindering progress.

"It's quite a challenge; the community is stealing manhole covers and selling them to scrapyards, and this is causing people to deposit unwanted materials in the system, such as bones, plastics, and debris. It is now blocking the system. They are also stealing things such as the electrical cables and capacitors in the pump station."

The town of Rundu has been dealing with sewer-related issues for years. Recent infrastructural improvements are now proving an opportunity for theft. 

"We had a situation whereby one of the pumps was stolen. So such theft means that now it has caused a delay in the implementation and completion of the project, and obviously it brings about unwanted situations such as sewerage overflowing into the public. Things such as a small pump station and a lifter station, which cost us N$150,000, were stolen."

Shopati says upgrading and rehabilitating the town's infrastructure is the obvious way to go, but the inconsiderate nature of certain residents takes them back ten steps. 

"The theft-related incidents of infrastructure have cost the council about N$3 million. We are talking about extension eight. The electrical cables and all the components of the kiosk, as well as the copper and stuff, were already estimated at N$1.5 million. You know the project was completed at phase one, and by the time we moved to phase two, almost everything was gone."

These are just some of the common scenes often seen around Rundu. 

Despite the waste, the town council will still have to foot the bill. 

"People are also stealing water metres; some are cutting the water pipes. It's not only theft; it's also vandalism because when you cut a pipe, we must come and dig the leak and find out this is cut here and then replace and all that, so it's really causing delays in the council's attempt to bring about services."

At the moment, Rundu residents owe the Town Council N$370 million.