North Durban residents voice anger at public meeting over water-supply issues
Senior members from the City, including Ednick Msweli, eThekwini’s head of water and sanitation, were present at the meeting called for and chaired by URRA.
THE uMhlanga Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association (URRA) held a public meeting last week to address the water-supply crisis affecting areas north of Durban.
Despite some improvement in water supply, some residents continue to battle with an intermittent or limited supply.
The meeting saw residents raise concerns and voice their frustrations and anger at the eThekwini Municipality.
Senior members from the City, including Ednick Msweli, eThekwini’s head of water and sanitation, and Simon Scruton, deputy head of water and sanitation, were present at the meeting called for and chaired by URRA.
At the meeting, while the City said water losses were at an all-time high, eThekwini would not be facing a ‘Day Zero’ situation like Cape Town.
Also read: Planned shutdown of Northern Aqueduct postponed
Among the reasons senior officials presented to residents as to why they were without water was climate change.
This was rejected by residents and the chairperson of URRA, Terri MacLarty.
“The residents raised a number of valid points in response to the City’s assertions on the water crisis. We are unsure even after the repair of the remaining valves whether the water supply will be fully restored, but we are hopeful. We feel the maintenance of the Northern Aqueduct has to be questioned as to why it has taken the City this long to service and conduct repairs. It was more of a reactive approach than a proactive one.
“Our deputy chairperson, Duncan Heafield, also pointed out how the water outages have impacted the tourism industry which has lost millions of rands. We also took the opportunity to address the sewage issues and the water-billing issues where some residents are facing hefty utility bills. There was talk of water-shedding which I must say does not bode well for the residents and ratepayers of eThekwini. Ultimately, this meeting was about raising our frustrations and giving the residents an opportunity to ask questions as to how we’ve reached this point,” she said.
To find out more about the ratepayers’ body or to join, visit www.urra.co.za.
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