Communities’ taps remain dry

WHILE uMkhanyakude District Municipality states it is doing everything possible to provide water to all areas within its jurisdiction, the people of the greater Mtubatuba area still find themselves without the crucial resource.

‘There is one borehole in the centre of KwaMsane, from which everybody fills their buckets and bottles everyday,’ said Msizeni Nxumalo, a KwaMsane resident.

‘To my knowledge, one municipal water tanker delivers every Saturday afternoon but, for the rest of the week, we are forced to pay private people who deliver water to us.’

Nxumalo said these private water distributors charge anything between R300 and R700 to fill a 2 500 litre tank.

While uMkhanyakude has said it will drill a second borehole in KwaMsane, the time frame for this is unclear.

In the meantime, Mtubatuba waterworks is pumping water intermittently but some areas, including KwaMsane and St Lucia, have not received any while only parts of Mtubatuba Town have reportedly received water.

Last week it was reported that a 400mm pipeline had to carry water from Mtubatuba to Cape Vidal before areas in between could receive any.

However, an iSimangaliso employee stated that the pipeline runs from Mtubatuba to St Lucia’s reservoir and that a smaller pipeline runs from this line to the iSimangaliso Wetland Park.

He further stated that Cape Vidal has been running off its own borehole for almost a year.

Mtubatuba residents engaged in a meeting with a Mtubatuba councillor at which the future of the town’s water supply was discussed.

While interim solutions, including tanks at strategic points, were agreed on, it was reported that the situation appeared to have deteriorated into a ‘blame game’ between the parties responsible for water supply and distribution.

All the while, residents are kept in the dark and without water.