15 Ugu tankers hired at R2.2m per month, inquiry says.

The South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) conducted an inquiry into access to water in all the district municipalities in KZN.
The commission engaged with and received submissions from stakeholders representing all corners of the province, from both state and non-state actors and institutions, as well as individual members of communities and civil societies.
The inquiry was conducted in response to the current water crisis in KZN.
Since 2020, the commission has received more than 600 complaints relating to challenges accessing water in all district municipalities.
The municipalities which account for the most complaints lodged against them are Ugu, eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality and uThukela District Municipality.
These districts account for a cumulative total of 481 or 92.6% of complaints relating to access to water lodged at the provincial office of the commission.

UGU RATEPAYERS’ ASSOCIATION (URA)

URA laid the blame for water service delivery failures at the door of Ugu, the Department of Water and Sanitation and Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), calling for them to be investigated and held to account.
Ugu residents experience water outages for several hours, three days at a time and recently, 34 days with no water at all.
This is impacting most significantly on the elderly, those with disabilities, school-going children, particularly young girls whose personal hygiene is affected, and health clinics and local hospitals. One elderly woman was so dehydrated, she resorted out of desperation to drinking water from her toilet until that too was exhausted, and another on her own, wheelchair-bound, had no access to water at all.
Local schools should be closed because 80% of the time there is no water but they have to continue operating. Local businesses are also severely affected by the ongoing water shortages, particularly those in the tourism industry, which is a primary source of business for the South Coast.
Domestic animals and those in animal husbandry are suffering. They cited an instance where a water tanker deliberately swerved and ran over the containers of people who had queued for hours for the tanker to arrive.
URA alleges that the Ugu is in denial about the challenges experienced, and there is no accountability for this dereliction of duty.
URA made a submission to the commission, and made further submissions to the KZN Legislature, tabling this at a sitting with Cogta. URA alleges that the Cogta MEC tore up half the petition containing 1,800 signatures from community members.
Community members have not been able to obtain information from the municipality on its plan to address the challenges faced. Water shortages affect people across Ugu. Street protests are escalating and turning violent.
URA called for a local state of disaster to be declared. Residents are relying on aid from Gift of the Givers and other civic sectors, but support is waning, and the state cannot abrogate its responsibilities to these stakeholders. It noted that the Water Services Committee has not sat and could be utilising its powers in terms of the Water Services Act to oversee local service delivery.

FEEDBACK FROM UGU

Ugu reported that the greatest challenges in water services are experienced in the urban areas, where the infrastructure is ageing.
Rural areas mostly access water services through tankers, and Ugu is 60% rural. The mayor engaged with the Minister of Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) and the Premier, regarding the challenges it faces, and is seeking assistance.
An inter-ministerial stakeholder engagement was convened, and these key stakeholders sit on the municipal war room committee. Ugu has accordingly developed a turnaround strategy to address its water service challenges.
Ugu has aligned its interventions with the KZN Water Master Plan and undertakes the MUSA Self Assessment administered by DWS, and its No Drop programme.
Key challenges experienced are intermittent water supply, with demand exceeding supply and production, further aggravated in the tourism season.
Ugu is plagued by dysfunctional, ageing infrastructure requiring repair and maintenance. Universal access to water for all is aggravated by urban migration and non-revenue water through illegal connections and losses.
The municipality also suffers low revenue collection and reports inadequate human resources in terms of necessary skills and capacity.
Ugu’s immediate intervention to address shortcomings in water provision is through tankers – 33 are Ugu-owned – with 15 additional tankers being hired.
Ugu is plagued by burst pipes, leaks, low reservoirs, illegal connections and vandalism, pump failures as a result of repair and maintenance challenges, and loadshedding.

SOCIAL UNREST

The social unrest in July 2021 resulted in 39 service delivery vehicles being destroyed; in addition panels and cables have been stripped and stolen.
In the short-term, Ugu is undertaking borehole drilling, pipeline repairs, looking at raw and bulk supplies, and sanitation backlogs, mostly, financed through Cogta grants and the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA).
Its focus has also been on building technical capacity in the municipality to ensure compliance with regulations for Blue Drop, Green Drop and No Drop (water conservation and demand management). Twenty five of its vacant posts have been filled, but only one is an engineer.
Medium to long-term plans are in place for the maintenance and construction of infrastructure: A Cogta grant is being used for the St Helen’s Rock pump station refurbishment, and also the construction of Cwabeni and Weza Dams, pipeline replacement, water treatment works and bulk water supply schemes.
A community dispute regarding access to land needed for plant refurbishment is currently derailing one of these projects.
Ugu is able to budget around 0.9 to 1.1% of its capital expenditures for maintenance, and not 8% due to funding constraints.
Low revenue collection is plaguing Ugu, with most of the debt sitting with residential owners.
The panel (commission) noted that poverty, unemployment and inequality are acting as drivers for social unrest and acts of vandalism, which requires people-centred rather than technical solutions, and the creation of a shared vision.
It noted that there is a breakdown in trust between residents and municipalities, resulting in disbelief in motives and actions.
Leaders need to articulate a clear vision and convince others to share this vision and municipalities need to invest more time in this.
The panel noted that it would appear to be more cost-effective for municipalities to buy tankers rather than outsource this service, observing that in the future, more permanent solutions are needed, with tankers only drawn on for emergencies.

UGU’S TANKER SITUATION

Ugu reported that it had rented 35 tankers which is now down to 15 tankers being hired at a cost of R2.2m per month. It is trying to build up its own fleet of water tankers, which is included in the infrastructure component of its five-point plan.
The panel observed that Ugu has historic supply challenges that were exacerbated by the unrest, yet it is a Water Services Act (WSA) with the sole mandate to deliver on water and sanitation.
The panel referred to submissions received of the municipality’s failure to respond to complaints, its failure to communicate, and challenges lodged concerning tankers and drivers.
The municipality committed to following-up on these complaints and advised that it uses social media platforms to share information with community stakeholders. It has started visiting areas, especially those governed by traditional leaders, and addresses communication strategy in its weekly war room meetings.
It reported that it completed the MUSA and tabled this with council, using the MUSA findings to push for a budget for maintenance and repairs. Its planned deadlines on many projects have been affected by the floods, and these deviations are reported in war room meetings where the majority of stakeholders sit.
The panel noted with concern that the majority of the commission’s complaints received come from Ugu, yet the plan presented does not speak to the plight of the people who have complained, and the desperation of the situation in Ugu.
The panel expressed the view that the Ugu delegation had not conveyed a sense of understanding of this situation. The panel noted that some areas have no water whatsoever, such as shopping malls and old age homes, and that people inland have not had water for years.

*This article (inquiry report) is fully credited to the inquiry panel of the SAHRC.

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