Drought. Water restrictions. Water cuts. Save water. These are some of the most frequent words that one sees when reading a community newspaper from Northern KwaZulu-Natal towns or national dailies.

Severe water restrictions have been placed on residents like Ladysmith and fresh water resources in town like Vryheid and Dundee are taking a nose dive.

Uthukela District Municipality Municipal Manager Mr SN Kunene appealed to residents via last week’s edition to use water sparingly and forbid watering of gardens, filling swimming pools, washing vehicles with a hose and illegal car wash businesses.

But the municipality’s approach to clamp down on customer’s use of water has been negatively criticised by locals who have reported numerous water leaks in Estcourt.

Some of these water leaks, according to residents, have been left unattended for more than a month. Thousands of litres of fresh water are wasted daily and residents say this is a blatant waste of water, especially in times of a provincial drought.