uThukela District Municipality has confirmed that the contractor installing the pump at the Klip River Pump Station is close to completing the job.

In a statement issued this afternoon (March 10), the district municipality said the pump is currently being installed and once the installation is complete, the community of St Chad’s will begin receiving water again.

“This notice serves to provide an update to the communities of St Chad’s and Ladysmith that the pump is currently being installed by the service provider. Once it has been installed, the people of St Chad’s will regain access to water supply,” the municipality said.

Community protests over water shortage

This update comes after residents of St Chad’s staged a three-day protest last week, demanding the restoration of water services from the municipality.

Community members blocked roads and called on local authorities to urgently resolve the issue, saying they had been without a reliable water supply for several days.

Previous promise of quick resolution

On Sunday (March 8), uThukela District Municipality Mayor Inkosi NB Shabalala assured residents that the pump would be fixed by Tuesday.

This followed an earlier promise made during the final day of the protest last Wednesday (March 4) that the repairs would be completed by the end of the week. However, the service provider was unable to complete the repairs on Friday, as initially expected.

The municipality now says the installation process is well underway and water supply should resume once the work is completed.

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