Local ratepayers’ bodies express anger over water curtailment programme

RESIDENTS and ratepayers’ bodies have reacted with anger and frustration over the eThekwini Municipality’s decision to implement a water curtailment programme which began on Thursday last week.

Durban mayor Cyril Xaba made the announcement recently and said the decision was taken by both the Department of Water and Sanitation and the municipality.

It is expected to be implemented over the next 12 months with the aim of achieving an 8.4% reduction in the municipality’s water consumption rate.

The City say that water demand exceeds available supply and that it has reached the limit of water that can be drawn from dams.

Related story: City explains the need for water curtailment programme

Among some of the measures being introduced by the City are water pressure reductions in the reticulation network; the installation of restrictors in water meters to all consumers; disconnecting all illegal connections; and water rationing where demand is too high or exceeds available supply.

Durban North Residents’ and Ratepayers’ Association spokesperson Sam Reddy said the decision was unfair given the fact that the City loses a little more than 50% of water purchased from the uMngeni-uThukela Water board due to theft or vandalism.

The water board is the largest supplier of bulk potable water in the province.

“Essentially, the municipality have pushed the blame onto ratepayers and residents. When you consider how much water is being lost to theft and vandalism, how then are we as residents to blame for over-consumption? Even though the curtailment programme began last week, it won’t hit us just yet, but I do foresee future issues. A number of the residents I know do conserve and use water sparingly, but even with them doing so, this curtailment will hurt residents in the long run.

Also read: Durban North residents voice concerns over sewage overflows

“I heard the mayor say that this is not water cuts, but we believe that is just semantics. They are not fixing the actual problems. We have already faced close to a year with a limited water supply, and despite an assurance that this could last 12 months, we anticipate this going on for longer and that the situation could worsen. If the City did the service and management of aqueducts and pipes, we wouldn’t be in this predicament. We, as a ratepayers body, feel this is narrow-sighted, and we also question that if the curtailment is 8.4%, then does that mean it will reflect in our water bills? With how water is gravity-fed, we also feel that residents who live in elevated areas will struggle to get any water if the supply is restricted,” Reddy said.

His sentiments were echoed by uMhlanga Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association (URRA) chairperson Terri MacLarty.

“As a ratepayers’ body, we’ve held numerous meetings with the Head of the eThekwini Water and Sanitation (EWS) Unit, Ednick Msweli, and other members in the EWS over the almost year-long issue. For a municipality that says the budget is strained, we find it hard to believe that they are finding money to fit a restrictor on every ratepayer’s meter. We do feel the curtailment will result in water supply being switched off. We are not in a good space at the moment, and again, the ratepayers are paying the price for poor management and maintenance.

“This additionally has a knock-on effect in uMhlanga because there are so many B&Bs, hotels and restaurants. This will hurt the hospitality industry which already has had to face the floods, the riots and the frequent beach closures due to high E. coli levels. We are paying inflated rates, but we are not getting the level of service required. The other side of the coin is that not everyone can have JoJo tanks, so people will have to fork out more to buy bottles of water for their homes,” MacLarty said.

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