The Municipality of eThekwini region comes under fire by residents over a persistent lack of water supply. The complaints came from as far as communities such as eMkhomazi on the south coast and Phoenix to the north of Durban. These grievances concerning negligence have highlighted the urgency surrounding water availability in these areas, as citizens grow increasingly impatient with the municipality’s handling of the crisis. The situation drags on.
According to Mandlakayise Dlomo, a resident of eMkhomazi, spoke with dismay, emphasizing that sourcing water has become an uphill struggle over the last four years.
“Initially, they brought water tankers to the area, but their delivery schedule has been inconsistent. Sometimes they deliver, sometimes they don’t, and on the days they do, it’s often in the morning when most of us are at work,” he lamented. Lindokuhle Maseko of Phoenix shared a similar frustrations and pointed to broken municipality pipes and the claims of ongoing repairs. “I don’t believe the pipes are bursting at this point; it’s just sheer incompetence from the municipality,” Maseko stated, highlighting her community’s frustrations with repeated outages. “I am just tired of these people.” The situation has drawn the attention of local political figures. Councillor Andre Beetge, a DA executive member, reiterated that the municipality was slack in its handling of water supply challenges.
The municipality has to clean up its act with urgency when it comes to service delivery. Improvement in the area of service delivery is a necessity. Inconsistency in delivering water tankers or any other service is not a sign of wise leadership and state sanctioned planning. The same needs to be said about the regions in KwaZulu-Natal that experience similar issues with water shortage. This is not an isolated incident. Pietermaritzburg should take charge and promote responsible leadership in the municipalities such as eThekwini. The African National Congress (ANC) Party has long held control of eThekwini Municipal council and the mayor’s office. Should they continue as business as usual or be voted out of office? What is the price for transparency and accountability in the eThekwini region?
Who chooses to determine the distribution of such a vital commodity as water? Should it be the municipal council and the mayor or Premier’s administration in Pietermaritburg?
THE eThekwini Municipality has released a statement informing residents and businesses of a planned shutdown of the Western Aqueduct today to allow the City’s Water Services Directorate to undertake repair work. According to the City, a severe fault was discovered on a major bulk supply line in the vicinity of Impala Ridge in Drummond which requires immediate attention to repair. “This entails isolating the Western Aqueduct downstream of Inchanga which will affect several areas. The repair work will commence today, Wednesday, August 27 and is anticipated to be completed on Thursday, August 28 at 04:00.”
The municipality requested consumers to reduce their consumption during the repair period to avoid depletion of reservoirs as they will not be topped up until the repair work has been completed.
Repairing damaged water Aqueducts is essential to improving reliable service delivery. This took place last week Friday. Regularly monitoring the condition of water pipes should be an essential core function of managing the infrastructure of a city or major urban area. Citizens living in affected areas that draw water from the Aqueduct over Impala Ridge should best be prepared to stock up on water supplies until the severe fault or damage is repaired. If the fault is not repaired there could a risk of the damage being escalated. The Aqueduct pipeline could burst leading to excessive and widespread flooding in the areas concerned. An event of this magnitude could set the delivery of clean water services back – by some years.
The twin concerns of service delivery and maintenance on public works must be handled with care and precision by the municipality. Water should be used frugally during this time. It should be possible to stock up on drinking water. Drinking water should be safeguarded. The eThekwini municipality must also provide better water services in the surrounding rural areas. The municipal administration should consult with and listen to the public transparently about their concerns.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
