Ongoing water outages in Endumeni, particularly in Glencoe, have prompted the Democratic Alliance (DA) to campaign in the area, describing the situation as unacceptable.

A group of party activists, joined by councillors Salim Abdool and Naresh Gopie, took to the streets last week, displaying banners calling for urgent intervention to resolve the crisis.

The persistent water cuts have been blamed on ageing and poorly maintained infrastructure, as well as ongoing pump failures at Tayside.

uThukela Water, which supplies bulk water to the Umzinyathi District, confirmed that new pumps have been ordered from Europe. However, no timeline has been provided for their installation.

“Residents face an unacceptable situation,” say councillors

Further strain is being placed on the system by the Biggarsberg reservoir, which has not been expanded in more than 30 years despite significant population growth. In addition, filter problems at the plant have prevented it from operating at full capacity.

Last year’s widely publicised water summit in Dundee, attended by Local Government Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa, was expected to deliver solutions. However, the main outcome was a plan to drill more than 60 boreholes to assist water-scarce areas.

Some residents have criticised the plan, arguing that funds should rather be used to repair and upgrade existing infrastructure. The Umzinyathi District Municipality has not responded to these concerns.

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