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The Democratic Alliance in Chatsworth today calls on the Acting City Manager, Musa Mbhele, to do a complete clean-up of the Water and Sanitation unit following yet another water outage in parts of Chatsworth and surrounding areas.

For over a week, people have not had water due to a major leak in the Northdene 3 pumps to the Shallcross reservoir. This has resulted in the reservoir being unable to fill up, causing strain on downstream reservoirs.

It is clear that the unit is failing to deliver on its mandate, the only viable solution is to do a complete clean-up and bring on board people who are fit to deal with the constant water outages in the municipality.

The community of Chatsworth has been failed continuously by the ANC-led eThekwini and heads must roll. The municipality’s failure to ensure proper maintenance of its infrastructure has led to this collapse. The Water and Sanitation unit is in shambles.

In a recent written reply to questions asked by the DA in Council, the city has acknowledged that there is no contract in place for adequate water maintenance. In essence, there is a lack in the supply of maintenance material to fix burst pipes, leaks and meters such as compression fittings as well as copper and brass fittings.

It is devastating that while people are still reeling from the unrest in the province, brought on by the same ANC, they have to now also struggle to get something as basic as water. In a time where we are faced with Covid-19 with people expected to constantly wash their hands, where does the ANC-led eThekwini expect people to get water?

While DA councillors are working hard to get water tankers, there are also allegations that ANC bigwigs are playing politics by restricting the number of tankers to certain areas.

It is demeaning, for one of the biggest metros in the country to struggle to get adequate water supply. Residents of eThekwini deserve a government that puts their needs first and the ANC is clearly not that government.

Issued by The DA