Ongoing water shortages for Malangeni

Malangeni residents from the Oswanini area (ward 7) in particular have been suffering from water shortages since 2016 to date.

The community has adjusted to receiving water from a water truck once a week, but this is not enough as they are only allowed to fill three to four 20-litre containers at each given time.

With this not being sufficient, people are forced to fetch water from small rivers around the area.

One resident mentioned that when people have a little extra money, they hire a van to go and fetch water from Sezela which is the closest area with running water for them.

“Due to our limited water, we often end up drinking the river water or other dirty water collected which isn’t good for our community especially when we have a lot of elders and children,” said the resident.

“This has been going on for many years, but we want people to understand that they cannot expect us to live like this forever with just the weekly water truck and rivers.”

Ugu District Municipality was contacted for comment on the matter and its response is as follows:

“The municipality understands that communities of Ward 7 in Malangeni are faced with water shortage challenges. To remedy this as a short-term solution, our water tankers are supplying the area with water. However medium and long-term solutions include the South Coast bulk pipeline project which has been started by Umgeni Water and is ongoing. Completion of this project will improve our capacity and allow people of ward 7 to enjoy an uninterrupted water supply.
We are also in the process of constructing a reservoir that will cater for the affected communities. Government remains committed to ensuring that improved water services remain a priority for the people of Ugu District.”

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