As the country continues to take stock of the devastation caused by the floods that wreaked havoc across KwaZulu-Natal, the patience of residents in the north of Durban is growing thin with many appealing to both national and provincial government to speed up efforts of restoring water and electricity to hard hit areas like Tongaat, Verulam and surrounding areas.
Protests have begun mushrooming across eThekwini with many accusing local government of prioritising water relief to affluent areas while others in townships and informal settlements suffer, in the wake of the disaster. The residents of Trenance Park, Verulam, share the same sentiments and this week took to the streets in protest. One of the protestors, who spoke on the condition of anonymity (Ben), said since Monday, 11 April, they have had no electricity and every attempt to log the fault was fruitless. He said they have also been without water for days, and barely have seen any water tankers coming to the rescue of grief stricken residents. “When electricity shuts off so does our water supply. Today, Wednesday 20 April, we are exactly 10 days without water or electricity.”
He said residents were unable to get answers and grew irate. “Residents were losing food due to their fridges not working. They ve also been collecting rain to use in their homes. We understand the challenges of water supply is a provincial one however water needs to be distributed evenly.” Ben said at this point residents are extremely frustrated. “The people are demanding answers and communication from community leaders and our councillors. We are left in the dark while communities around us receive basic service delivery. Without effective communication what are we supposed to believe?” Umdloti, which suffered extreme infrastructural damage, was one of the areas visited by the eThekwini Deputy Mayor, Councillor Philani Mavundla and Deputy Minister for Water and Sanitation, David Mahlobo.
The purpose of their visit was to inspect damaged water and sanitation infrastructure in Umdloti, oThongathi and the Northern waterworks. Vicky Schnetler, the Umdloti Precinct Manager said the damage in Umdloti exceeds more than R100 million. “Private property and roads are completely destroyed. We are trying our best to rebuild and all progress made thus far was with the aid of private funding. We have managed to bring in JoJo tanks and secured private donations of drinking water for the community.” Schnetler said the supply of water to the area is extremely bad. “Our water system is completely damaged. We are working around the clock with private assistance to get water restored. This is going to take some time to repair.”
She said although the ministers visited the area there is no action to assist the community. “Local government has done nothing to help. This is such a horrific situation and they haven t brought us water once.” The spokesperson for the eThekwini Municipality, Msawakhe Mayisela, said: “Teams are on site conducting repairs to the Trenance 1 Reservoir and the Phoenix 4 Reservoir. In the Umdloti areas, repairs are 90% complete but the reservoir remains empty. In Redcliffe, repairs are complete but the reservoir remains empty. Repairs have also been completed to part of reticulation from Trenance 1 Reservoir zone and Neptune Drive. The water is back on from 11.30am to 3.30pm.”
KZN Premier, Sihle Zikalala, said a war room has been established comprising eThekwini, Umgeni Water, Department of Water and Sanitation, Human Settlements and Roads and a plan to restore services is being implemented. “We can confirm that most areas that experienced electricity disruptions particularly in Ethekwini Metro are now back to full service. The challenge is in individual households and new cases being reported. Power supply that was impacting on water and the filling up of reservoirs in areas such as Inanda dam has been fixed. The main challenges with water is the bulk supply pipelines that are damaged.”
Zikalala also defended the accusation of favouritism over the supply of water. This comes after he was accused of redirecting a water tanker destined for Tongaat to his family home in the north of Durban. A viral video showing the water being off loaded, has cause widespread outrage. “What that video does not show or fails to mention is that I was approached by members of the community who had been struggling due to a shortage of water as a result of the floods. I, together with the community, have gone for days without water. I then requested assistance after members of the community pleaded for my assistance knowing I lived in the area. Actually all the other days my wife and kids had been fetching water in buckets. To me this is not new as I grew up fetching water and I still do today when situations demand. We did eventually receive a response and the tanker came to the area. The video fails to mention that the tanker actually provided water to the local residents and supplied many of them with the much-needed water before also filling at my home. Now, for this person to present the video in a way that implies that only my family got the water is blatant propaganda, uncalled-for, mischievous and malicious. It is disingenuous, and certainly something that must be viewed with the contempt that it deserves,” Premier Zikalala said.
