CONSULTING Engineers South Africa (CESA) has sounded the alarm over KZN’s deteriorating infrastructure, calling for a proactive, resilient approach to address the growing threat posed by recurring floods and climate change.

Speaking at a recent conference at The Pearls in uMhlanga, CESA president David Leukes highlighted how the recent flooding events have exposed critical weaknesses in KZN’s roads, bridges, and water systems.

“Much of our infrastructure was designed for historical weather conditions and is now overwhelmed by the intensity and frequency of extreme weather,” said Leukes.

“The situation demands urgent intervention through a comprehensive, lifecycle approach to infrastructure development and maintenance,” he added.

Leukes pointed to the failure of key infrastructure — such as low-lying bridges in Pinetown and clogged stormwater systems — as examples of the vulnerability created by ageing systems and deferred maintenance.

“We’re seeing catastrophic damage because the infrastructure can’t cope. We’re still struggling to get ahead of this crisis,” he added.

He also stressed the importance of collaboration between government, private sector, and communities in building climate-resilient systems.

Guest speaker at the conference was eThekwini Municipality’s deputy head of the City’s Water and Sanitation Unit, Simon Scruton, who said despite eThekwini’s ongoing water challenges being deeply rooted in ageing infrastructure, budget shortfalls, and a mounting maintenance backlog, progress is being made but much more needs to be done.

“There are areas with no water at all, and it’s our responsibility to fix that,” said Scruton, pointing to a staggering R44b backlog in water and sanitation infrastructure. We’re simply not going to catch up at this rate unless we find ways to make these projects affordable and sustainable.”

Scruton acknowledged that the City’s mayor, Cyril Xaba, is “doing a good job in driving change”.

One of the most pressing needs, he said, is to revive and sustain a mains replacement programme, which has faced serious budget constraints in recent years.

Scruton is part of the team behind eThekwini’s Water and Sanitation Turnaround Strategy (TAS), which was recently approved and focuses on 13 key action areas.

“The main issues we face are losses from old mains, leaking connections, and inadequate infrastructure in many outlying areas,” he said.

Despite the setbacks, Scruton noted some progress.

“We’ve signed a bulk water agreement linked to the uMkhomazi Dam project. That was delayed for years — first due to environmental and programmatic issues, and then funding problems. The initial model would’ve nearly doubled water tariffs for consumers, which we rejected. We’ve now secured half the project funding from national government.”

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