Thousands of litres of fresh drinking water is going to waste every minute of the day on the South Coast. For months the waterpipe under the Batstone’s Drift low-level bridge in Port Shepstone has been gushing and millions of litres of water has gone to waste.

The South Coast Herald wrote about this issue in January this year, but nothing has been done to fix the problem. One regular paddler, Lana van Zyl, said it has been an ongoing problem for about seven months. She added that it has also been reported to Ugu on numerous occasions. “Residents are faced daily with water cuts while a huge amount of water is being wasted every second of the day,” she said.

On Tuesday this week, the South Coast Herald paddled about two kilometres up the river to have a look at the massive leak on the Umzimkulu River’s low-level bridge, near the sugar mill. “Imagine leaving your kitchen tap on at full blast for days… that’s what this leak looks and sounds like. It’s beyond shocking!,” said another paddler.

Mondli Ncane, acting spokesman of Ugu District Municipality confirmed that they are aware of the water leak. “Our water services unit is engaging in ongoing assessments to determine the extent of repairs needing to be conducted,” he said. However, Ncane added that the municipality would like to advise the Ugu community that repairs of this nature require the services of a specialist, as well as rigging equipment of a new pipeline section.

“Once the specialist gets appointed, repairs may then commence thereafter. Communities of Ugu are also advised that should this particular line be closed, residents of certain towns, including Hibberdene, Woodgrange, Louisiana, Umtentweni, Anerley and Sea Park would have no access to water for a lengthy period, as the pipeline would have to be emptied dry in order to start with the repair process,” he said.