Ugu challenged to fix water woes

KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Sihle Zikalala, told residents at the Ugu Sports and Leisure Centre that if water interventions prove to be unsuccessful, they must blame Ugu District Municipality water services general manager, Sivuyile Mbewu and acting municipal manager, Sibusiso Ntobela.

Zikalala was speaking on Tuesday at an imbizo aimed at addressing Ugu District Municipality’s water challenges.

He said Mbewu and Ntobela are the ones, in their expert knowledge, who told the provincial government what the problems are and the solutions needed to sort the water outages.

The premier said issues faced by Ugu include ageing infrastructure which is struggling to meet the demand due to population growth, lack of maintenance of water infrastructure, vandalism of water infrastructure, illegal connections, and more.

He added that some of its interventions include the drilling of boreholes in Umdoni, Umzumbe, and Umuziwabantu Municipalities.

Zikalala was speaking in Gamalakhe while residents in the area did not have water. He said the reason there was no water on Tuesday was because Eskom had been servicing its substation within Ray Nkonyeni Municipality.

“After Tuesday, water would be restored,” said Zikalala, adding that some of the interventions also include the implementation of a raw water transfer scheme from Wessa River to Harding.

He said this project was started in February and will be completed in October 2022.

The premier added that Umgeni Water is also building the South Coast bulk pipeline which will start in Kelso all the way to Malangeni in Umdoni.

He added that the upgrading of the KwaLembe Water Treatment Works is also underway, saying that it started in March and will be completed in June 2024. “Our long-term plans include the implementation of Ncwabeni off-channel storage dam which will be completed in 2026, among others,” he said.

Zikalala added that they have also formed a war room to help ensure that the measures to restore water in the district are implemented.

He said Umgeni Water, technical teams from the Department of Cogta, and Ugu District Municipality will also be part of the war room.

“We have followed the technical advice from the managers of Ugu because they are knowledgeable in this. They told us that this and that needs to be done so if all these interventions do not work, it would mean that they gave us the wrong information because we have done everything they advised,” he said.

The premier added that two representatives from local stakeholders were roped in to be part of the war room and will be reporting back to the businesses, religious and traditional communities about the projects and progress.

After the minister of Water and Sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, visited the Ugu District in relation to its water problems, residents in Boboyi and Umzumbe took to the streets to protest against the ongoing issue.

On Tuesday, disgruntled Boboyi residents blockaded the N2 demanding water while Umzumbe residents took to the R102 to protest against the truck delivery system.

Speaking at the Ugu Sports and Leisure Centre on Friday, Mchunu said there is water in Ugu, adding that dams are full, but people are complaining that they have no water coming out of their taps.

He said they have not balanced their approach, saying that they have been emphasising water services and not spending enough time on water management services.

Mchunu instructed Ugu District Municipality to fast-track two bulk water projects in the district.

The minister was speaking during a provincial ministerial working visit with deputy minister, David Mahlobo, KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala, Ugu mayor, Phumlile Mthiyane, KZN MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Sipho Hlomuka and KZN MEC for Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Department (Edtea), Ravi Pillay.

“The province is currently working on two bulk projects, the Lower Umkhomazi Water Project and the building of a third dam for the district, which is part of the long-term solution. However, both projects are estimated to be completed in 2025. It is not a promise, it is something that is already happening. If we could, we would just call someone to come and do the work and get over it quickly, but it does not work like that,” said Mchunu.

He added that the lower Umkhomazi Water Project will add 100 mililitre per day saying that the only problem is that it will take time.

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