There seems to be a tiny speck of light at the end of the tunnel as the South Coast water crisis drags on.

Residents in Hibberdene have not had water for nine weeks, while Pumula has had dry taps for almost a month.

Other areas along the coast have also experienced sewage and water supply problems. One positive has been a meeting in Hibberdene, led by Ugu Mayor, Sizwe Ngcobo, with officials from Ugu Water Services.

He engaged with the residents to discuss a number of water challenges facing the area and provide solutions to remedy the challenges. The meeting provided Ugu leadership with first-hand experience of interacting and seeing the frustrations of residents.

Ugu explained that the northern supply system is compounded by a multiplicity of factors, such as abrupt mechanical and electrical failure on the system, ageing infrastructure, power cuts due to Eskom load-shedding, and acts of sabotage on the municipal water network.

Mayor Ngcobo said Ugu has concluded an arrangement with Umgeni Water for its engineers to be allocated to work on the northern system of its supply with effect from next week.

Meanwhile, pressure from residents and local groups, including the South Coast Water Action Group (SCWAG) last week resulted in the Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, Lindiwe Sisulu, promising direct intervention by her department to resolve this situation.

SCWAG said it is not yet clear exactly what intervention is planned.

The group reported back this week that there had been no sign of Minister Sisulu, although she had apparently promised to be here on Monday, and there had been no sign of Umgeni Water – yet.

“Members of SCWAG were present to observe the attempts by Ugu to repair known breaks (of old) which proved to be unsuccessful and/or ineffective. Hibberdene and Catalina reservoirs remain dry as a bone,” stated the team.

In the meantime, residents of Hibberdene – which has a population of more than 4 000 in over 1 500 households, comprising families with young children and new-born babies, as well as many elderly and frail people – are at serious risk of an outbreak of disease, let alone the ongoing threat of Covid-19 and the inability to wash and sanitise.

Efforts are also underway by residents to secure urgent intervention by the KZN Premier, the MEC for Health as well as the Minister of Health.

In the interim, SCWAG has taken a series of initiatives to find and implement immediate, short and long term sustainable solutions to this problem.

The team is also hoping to present to Minister Sisulu a presentation outlining the managerial, technical and labour solutions or recommendations that could help solve the ongoing water crisis.

On a positive note, the SCWAG team said it was promising to see how many former Ugu employees had come forward, offering to work alongside them.

“We know we will have a strong team behind us if we formulate a private-public partnership with Ugu.”

Anyone who would like to get in touch with the SCWAG team can email: watersetbacks@gmail.com.

Ugu encourages consumers to become members of its Facebook page, Ugu District Municipality to receive continuous and factual updates on water and sanitation related matters.

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