The Tongaat community is calling out the eThekwini Municipality for failing them when it comes to delivering on services, especially water supply, after the township in the north of Durban had no running water for over 72 hour recently.
With the ongoing water cuts due to burst pipes, residents are looking for answers as to when the water-shedding will be over. Muzammil Razak, who is resident of Tongaat and a councillor for Active Citizens Coalition (ACC), said water supply for northern Tongaat stopped on Thursday, 23 March, and was restored on Sunday afternoon, 26 March.
He told the Tongaat and Verulam Tabloid, that while they were rejoicing having running water once again, it sadly stopped again on Monday morning, 27 March.
“As the ACC, on Saturday, 25 March, I contacted the municipality requesting tankers and only one tanker was provided to service areas that did not have water. We covered as many areas as we could before the driver’s shift ended. As I went around with the tanker, I met people who had no water available since 23 March, as no tanker had come to the area. We received a second tanker on 26 March and serviced more areas. I have also been in communication with the humanitarian organisation, Jamiatul Ulama, who plan on sending bottled water to Tongaat. I will be working with road representatives to help distribute this to those who need it,” said Razak.
He said according to the municipality, it was advised that the outage is due to a few burst pipes. “The municipality said that there were plumbers on site, however they cannot give us a turnaround time,” added Razak.
Ward 61 Councillor, Dolly Munien said the area has been facing challenges with service delivery which has led to residents being forced to live with water cuts.
She said: “Service delivery of repairing meter leaks and burst pipes has slowed down which only creates ways for major bursts to occur. Once these leaks are not repaired the reservoirs start to lose capacity and it runs low or gets emptied. Residents are upset and frustrated because their bills have increased drastically even though they do not have a steady flow of water. The municipality doesn’t have enough tankers to send out and we have to rely on private companies. We need better service deliveriy as it has been lacking in our areas.”
Munien urged residents to be patient while they work on getting the burst pipes repaired. “To the residents of Tongaat and surrounding areas, I am working with the issues raised and we are trying our best. I apologise if I have not been able to get to everyone’s messages regarding the water outages but I have been busy with engaging with the officials for assistance. I ask that you have patience with me while we try to sort the problems out.” she added.
Imtiaz Syed of the ACC, who has been involved in water distribution in Tongaat, said: “As we come through the floods, the communities of Tongaat, Verulam and parts of Phoenix have been affected by damaged water infrastructure for months. Promises from the municipality that are irrational and indecisive leads us to believe that we are a city that is ailing for sustainable development and long term planning. The water issues across the city is going to be a problem for a while even though an additional burden of charge of a water infrastructure levy is being added to our utility bill it is clear that will not resolve this city’s woes.”
He said that a clear audit of the water and sanitation infrastructure must happen and that eThekwini’s leadership must be honest and transparent about the problem.
“We cannot sit back, close our eyes and wish that this problem goes away. As we know the R1.5 billion in flood disaster relief from the national government has finally reached the cities coffers. We as ACC call on the mayor and the city manager to ensure that these funds are used for its intended purposes. We therefore in the forthcoming council meetings are calling for transparency around these funds and the prioritisation of repairs in areas most affected like the Tongaat area,” said Syed.
The eThekwini Head of Communications, Lindiwe Khuzwayo, said the Metcalf reservoir water supply was affected as the reservoir battled to fill over the last week or so, even with the outlet fully closed at night. She said: “Our teams are busy with the troubleshooting to find out the root cause of why this reservoir level is not sustaining even with the outlet closed. As with all incidents of water shortages, water is being delivered using water tankers. We apologise to residents for any inconvenience experienced.”
