Merebank water supply a cause for concern

MEREBANK residents continue to bear the brunt of never-ending water woes. The latest was the community having to endure a weekend with no water recently.

“Residents reported being without water on Friday morning, 2 July. Many houses were affected and all residents reported the issue. Of those residents was a sickly 90-year-old elderly man and a disabled woman. We are in level four of lockdown and the entire community was in need of an undisrupted water supply. The worst part is that when the department was alerted, they did not send a water tanker into the area. When they eventually did send a plumber, he did not have enough tools, a pump or a generator to do the job. A resident, who also owns a local business in the area had to lend the plumber, contracted by the city, his generator as well as additional manpower from some of his staff. This is unacceptable. One cannot help but question whether these contracted companies are competent to do the work they have been awarded tenders for,” said ward 75 PR councillor Sthembiso Ngema.

He added that the issue of water cuts and water leaks remains an ongoing issue in eThekwini and continue up until we have leadership in the city that is will to address and deal with it.

“There are tariff increases as well as a new water levy that was introduced. But people continue to experience problems. That in itself tells you that there is a problem with management within the water department of the city. Even with the call centre, you can call today and they will respond to your query the next day in the afternoon. EThekwini is failing to provide basic services to its ratepayers. We are going to get to a point where we are going to experience a water shutdown, where some areas will be without water leading to more problems. Something needs to be done. When people prepare to go cast their votes in the upcoming government elections, they need to use their minds and not their conscience because it doesn’t work. They must think about the future of their children and the future of the country. EThekiwini’s budget has been escalating throughout the years to the benefit of those elected into power at the expense of the people who have put them in those positions,” said Ngema.

Comment from eThekwini Municipality was unavailable by the time of going to print.