Tighten taps, water shedding looms
Highway Mail will keep you updated on the looming water-shedding developments.
THE eThekwini Mayor, James Nxumalo, has advised people to continue saving water after water restriction timetables made rounds on social media on Monday, 7 March.
The timetable that was widely-spread on social media contained a water reduction timetable for areas supplied by the system, areas that will be affected and the times that the water will be cut off.
In most Highway areas, the timetable stated that water will be cut off on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9pm to 5am, while in some areas the cut-off was going to be on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9am to 6pm.
The municipality said no official report on water reduction has been approved by the city’s executive committee. The drought has been widely-publicised in mainstream newspapers, radio and through school water-saving education campaigns that have been running since last year.
Last week, MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, held a press conference where she directed all municipalities in the province to effect a 15 percent reduction in consumer demand for water.
EThekwini Municipality head of communications, Tozi Mthethwa, said the mayor will officially announce when water reduction measures will be implemented as per the directive from Dube-Ncube.
“Other than the announcement which will be made by the mayor in due course, there is no official report that has been approved by the executive committee. The date and time of the announcement will be communicated,” she said.
Ward 10 councillor, Rick Crouch, said, “As councillors we are as in the dark as everyone else. I understand that there will be some form of water restrictions. I don’t know what form they will take or when they will kick in.
“The matter will be discussed and approved at the exco meeting tomorrow (Tuesday, 8 March), and I also have no idea which reservoir feeds which area, I do not even know which one feeds my area.”
Crouch said nothing can happen until it is approved by the exco during the meeting, which was scheduled to take place on Tuesday, 8 March, where the mayor will make an announcement.
