Three people were arrested on charges of public violence following a water protest march at the uMzinyathi District Municipality offices in Dundee on Monday.

The arrests were made after protesters had completed the march and were returning along Victoria Street. Members of the Newcastle Public Order Policing Unit were accused by some marchers of assaulting protesters before the arrests were made.

Claims and counterclaims emerge

Police said refuse bags were torn open and stones were placed on the roadway during the protest. There were also reports that stones were thrown at passing vehicles, allegations that march organisers strongly denied.

“We were peaceful. We just want water. Umzinyathi officials could not give answers. Some areas have not had running water for months,” said one organiser, who declined to be named.

The South African Police Service rejected claims that protesters were assaulted. A police source who was present at the scene, but is not authorised to speak publicly, said municipal infrastructure had been damaged and that rocks placed on the road had disrupted traffic and posed a risk to the public.

The protest comes as Endumeni remains gripped by a worsening water crisis following the failure of pumps at the Tayside extraction plant.

Officials have confirmed that replacement pumps have been ordered from Europe, but these are expected to take about four weeks to arrive and be installed.

Thandeka Ngobese, Umzinyathi spokesperson, earlier said the District Municipality apologised to residents for the outage and that officials were ‘working hard to come up with a solution’.

It remains unclear what additional interim measures will be implemented to ease the impact on residents. While water tankers continue to operate in affected communities, residents say many areas are still not receiving an adequate supply.

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