North Durban water crisis continues
The eThekwini Municipality is failing in its duty to deliver water, says Ward 35 councillor.
CONSTANT water outages have left several wards across north Durban without water for days on end.
Several reservoirs supplying Durban North and uMhlanga remain at critical levels, leaving thousands of residents without water.
uMhlanga, uMhlanga Ridge and La Lucia Ridge, in particular, have been hard hit by the outages.
In response to the water crisis, City mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said he was ‘confident’ the municipality will meet the February 15 deadline to restore water supply in the northern areas of the city.
He made the comments as he assessed the progress of the work being undertaken on the new Northern Aqueduct Pipeline.
Related article: North Durban water outage sparks anger and frustration
The new Northern Aqueduct pipeline interconnects to the existing aqueduct and is set to improve the delivery of potable water to the northern areas.
The Northern Aqueduct augmentation pipeline supplies water from the Durban Heights Treatment Works to the Waterloo, uMhlanga and Blackburn (Cornubia) reservoirs.
“Our teams are working day and night to ensure that we deliver on the February 15 deadline. The progress that has been made by our teams of engineers checking for leaks and blockages, as well as replacing air valves, on the Northern Aqueduct Pipeline indicates that some residents may start receiving water before the stipulated deadline,” Kaunda said.
Ward 35 councillor Nicole Bollman said the current crisis was crippling the hospitality industry and leaving thousands of residents without water.
“The supply into our reservoirs is negligible, and optimal levels are not being achieved. A lot of emphasis is being given to February 15, but I’m not sure if that will solve the current crisis. There is no transparency from the City nor uMngeni-uThukela Water. Not only is the City failing in its duty to deliver water to homes but also the supplier is. This water crisis is a result of mismanagement and lack of maintenance which is causing a knock-on effect, exacerbating the problem,” she said.
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