THE Waterfall, Crestholme, and Forest Hills Residents & Ratepayers Association (WCFRA) has accused the eThekwini Municipality of offering a blanket defence in attributing ongoing water issues solely to the relocation of Pipeline 53. This follows widespread water outages affecting much of the Upper Highway area.

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The shutdown of Pipeline 53, in effect until February 22, 2025, began on January 26 as part of its relocation to accommodate Sanral’s N3 freeway upgrade. However, WCFRA chairperson, Bruce Henderson, argued that water infrastructure failures in the Upper Highway area persisted long before this project.

“Our water issues predate this relocation, and we believe we are being misled. Communities — both formal and informal — have endured water shortages ranging from two days to five months. Schools without proper sanitation have seen children falling ill, while businesses and education have suffered,” he said.

Also read: Moseley, Northdene residents furious after weeks without water

Henderson also highlighted ongoing maintenance delays. “We have WhatsApp groups where residents report leaks and other issues, but repairs can take anywhere from an hour to two days, resulting in thousands of liters of water wasted. In the past 10 days, we’ve had burst pipes in Waterfall 1 and Crestholme, some left unfixed for two days.”

According to Henderson, these problems stem from ageing infrastructure. “Instead of proper replacements, we’ve only seen patchwork repairs. When new pipe sections are fitted to old pipes, it leads to further issues,” he explained.

The association has called for better communication between the municipality and residents. “If the department keeps ratepayers and councillors informed, residents can prepare for disruptions rather than confronting work teams on-site, which ultimately causes further delays,” Henderson said.

The eThekwini Mayor, Cyril Xaba, touched on the water issues during the Executive Committee (Exco) meetings. He emphasised that the city is facing a significant water loss issue with 51% of its water supply unaccounted for due to leaks, illegal consumption and infrastructure inefficiencies.
To address this, the City said they are implementing a multi-pronged strategy that includes:

• Detecting and repairing leaks more efficiently.

• Installing meters in informal settlements and unmetered properties to track water usage.

• Replacing outdated and faulty meters to improve accuracy.

• Strengthening billing processes and debt management policies.

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Furthermore, the City reported that it is working closely with uMngeni-uThukela Water Board (UUWB) to address supply constraints.

“We understand that our residents need reliable water supply. While stricter conservation measures will be necessary, our primary focus is fixing infrastructure issues that lead to unnecessary water losses,” said Xaba.

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