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Frustrated residents of KwaDukuza have taken to the streets to protest the ongoing water cuts which appear to be worsening.
They blamed the District Municipality for failing to maintain infrastructure, which caused faucets to dry up in the suburbs of Stanger Manor, Warrenton, High Ridge, Oceanview and Mbozamo.
They also criticized the municipality’s relief efforts via tankers as “insufficient”.
Residents accused the municipality of “failing miserably” in its duty to provide water, a basic necessity.
Speaking to the media, the Chairman of the Finance Portfolio Committee Sandeep Oudhram, the Mayor of the Municipality of the iLembe District, Siduduzo Gumede and the Deputy Mayor Cllr Dolly Shandu.
The current challenges of water services have continued to plague the District Municipality whose main function is to provide water and sanitation to the 4 local municipalities in the region (KwaDukuza, Ndwedwe, Maphumulo and Mandeni) in l Except for the concession areas covered by Siza Water, between the Tongaat River and the Umvoti River and includes the urban areas of Zimbali, Ballito, Salt Rock, Sheffield Beach and Tinley Manor.
However, on Monday, the mayor of the iLembe District Municipality (IDM), Cllr Siduduzo Gumede, denied that IDM had failed to maintain and invest in water and sanitation infrastructure, and that his administrative and technical knowledge was not to blame.
Gumede blamed power interruptions, load shedding and emergency repairs by Umgeni Water for the water problems.
“Our infrastructure is not immune to power cuts and this has had a negative impact on our ability to provide water to communities.”
The mayor of the iLembe district municipality, Siduduzo Gumede, said the continuous load-shedding schedule played a role in the water cuts in the area.
“The supply to Stanger Manor, Warrenton, High Ridge, Shakaville and Kearsney all depends on pumps to be able to provide water to consumers.”
Gumede said the water supply depended on the availability of electricity at Umvoti water plants and various pumping stations.
He said IDM bought 2 generators to overcome the power cuts.
They were also in the early stages of installing a dedicated power line from KwaDukuza substation to two pumping stations, as the rural supply to KDM was inadequate.
Gumede said when IDM took over Umvoti’s water treatment work at Umgeni Water in 2017, the operation was in poor condition with critical infrastructure compromised due to age and lack of maintenance.
R14.25 million was spent to modernize and improve the plant’s capacity and an additional R5.75 million was spent on maintenance.
In his 2019/20 third quarter municipal budget performance review speech, KZN MEC Ravin Pillay reported iLembe as one of the districts with the lowest spending on repair and maintenance (48.8%).
Cllr Gumede said the replacement of the aging crosslinking system infrastructure at Warrenton and Shakaville, which began in June 2020, was 75% complete.
However, DA ward councilor MS Sing said the municipality was in a state of crisis and accused the mayor of being in denial.
“His attitude must change and he must listen to the cries of the people. “
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