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In light of the dire water crisis affecting residents, myself with our legal team conducted oversight inspections into the water challenges of Ugu District Municipality and eThekwini Metro Municipality. 

Over the past two days, our oversight visits have revealed shocking negligence and failure to uphold the constitutional obligation of providing water to citizens.

During these visits, we observed the horrible state of critical infrastructure, including malfunctioning sewer pump stations, water treatment plants and reservoirs. 

Shockingly, we witnessed raw sewage flowing freely in front of private properties, and officials resorting to dumping sewage into a stream whenever the load on a nearby pump station becomes too high, endangering public health and polluting the environment.

Of particular concern is that this stream flows into the uMzimkhulu river, and during high-tide, seawater, along with the contaminated water, flows upstream towards a water treatment plant. This has resulted in instances where residents have had salty seawater flowing from their taps.

Furthermore, municipal officials resorted to intimidation tactics, obstructing our access to essential sites and obstructing our efforts to conduct our investigations.

Following our water tour in Ugu District, we conducted oversight visits to reservoirs in the eThekwini Metro Municipality. 

Despite facing similar obstacles to accessing crucial sites, we were able to gather enough information from concerned community members who shared their experiences and challenges.

It is deeply troubling to discover that residents have had no access to water for long periods, despite living mere meters away from reservoirs. 

One case in particular is that of a resident in Amaoti, who alleged that their household has been without water since the early 2000s, and her pleas for assistance in connecting water pipes to her property have been ignored by the Municipality. 

Which forced her to rely on neighbours to give her water whenever the Municipality decided to make water available, and also rely on water tankers whenever they choose to bring water to people.

Furthermore, the lack of security at some reservoirs in eThekwini poses a serious risk to public health and safety. Holes in fences and inadequate security make it easy for civilians to access these properties, making it easy to potentially contaminate the water supply and endangering countless lives.

Currently, eThekwini Metro loses 58% of it’s water purchased from uMngeni water through leaks, vandalism and poor infrastructure, but it is disturbing that residents are without water for weeks, months and years. 

Therefore, ActionSA has resolved to take decisive action. With the support of community members and water experts, we will first petition the court to interdict these Municipalities to grant access to independent water experts appointed by ActionSA. Their expertise will be involved in conducting thorough assessments of the state of these critical infrastructures and providing detailed reports on the urgent interventions required, which we will present to the courts. 

Secondly, this will allow us to force the Municipality to finally fix or replace dilapidated infrastructure in both Municipalities. 

It's worth mentioning that ActionSA has pending litigation against the eThekwini Metro due to their inability to fix sewerage infrastructure, causing ongoing contamination of rivers and the ocean with high levels of E.Coli.

Despite the National Treasury allocating over R1.5 billion to the eThekwini Metro for sewer infrastructure repairs, the municipality has not addressed the issue, raising concerns about the whereabouts of these funds.

We want to be vehemently clear that the water issues are not a result of the recent floods that affected both Municipalities. These challenges existed prior to the crisis, and both Municipalities are now using the floods to mislead their residents.

The people of South Africa deserve better. ActionSA remains committed to advocating for the fundamental rights of all citizens and holding those in power accountable for their actions. We urge all stakeholders to stand with us in demanding immediate solutions to the water crisis plaguing our communities.

Issued by ActionSA KZN Premier Candidate Zwakele Mncwango