Water woes ignite protest
Thobekile Biyase (70) said it's difficult to live without water, especially when people are ill at home.
Tyres were set alight by the protesting community of Ward 15 in the Dingimbiza area in Mtwalume on Tuesday last week, as they have not received water since January.
The problem has been reported to their local municipality, Umzumbe, and Ugu District Municipality, but they said nothing has changed as they are still struggling.
A community member, Bheki Gumede, said they protested because of the lack of water for months. Also, they are now tired and they are showing their anger.
“We are not getting any help from anyone, it’s not just the water, it’s also the roads, electricity; basically service delivery. But our main issue right now is not having water for so long.”
Thobekile Biyase (70) said it’s difficult to live without water, especially when people are ill at home.
“We have streams, but some are dry and others are polluted because people throw nappies in. Also, I am too old to fetch water from a river or a stream. If water tankers were sent to us, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
Ugu’s spokesperson France Zama said the water supply in the Dingimbiza area remains inconsistent.
“The municipality has been engaging with the community to find a lasting solution. There was a pump failure at the Mtwalume plant two weeks ago. This incident was communicated to the community and relief water tankers were dispatched. Although the pump has since been repaired, there is still insufficient water at the plant to fully supply the entire area at adequate pressure.”
He added, both the municipality and the community acknowledge the surge of illegal connections on the main line, which affects the water supply, and unfortunately, there is a lack of willingness to refrain from this practise.
According to Zama, the community insists that the municipality install a new main line from the Mtwalume plant dedicated exclusively to their community.
“Regrettably again, there was no commitment from the community to collaborate with the municipality to address illegal connections. These unauthorised connections greatly contribute to non-revenue water, and Umgeni charges full tariff on the Mtwalume plant regardless of how the water is consumed.”
As an interim measure, the municipality will deploy water tankers to the area.
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