Government property worth about R4-million was damaged or destroyed when a local community went on the rampage‚ attacking a water project in Limpopo.

Police were called to the site‚ a project being carried out on contract under the Department of Water and Sanitation‚ when people started throwing stones at workers and equipment at Finale village near Hoedspruit on Monday.

“One worker was seriously injured and equipment‚ cars and machineries were severely damaged. All those damaged items belong to the Department of Water and Sanitation.

“The estimated damage caused during this incident is about R4-million‚” said police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe.

The injured man was taken to a clinic for treatment while the perpetrators evaded arrest.

Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nneke Ledwaba “learnt with dismay and disbelief the magnitude of the destruction of government properties that took place”‚ said Ngoepe.

"Community members are once again warned to desist from acts of public violence that often leads to destruction of property and injury to people. The police will continue to hunt all those responsible for this destruction‚” said Ledwaba.