Residents of Chatsworth, Northdene, Moseley and other wards held a protest at the eThekwini Municipality’s Water and Sanitation office in the Durban CBD on Monday, demanding urgent action to address ongoing water shortages.
Protesters voiced their anger over what they perceived as mismanagement, unfair water distribution, and the failure of city officials to resolve the crisis.
"I am 71 years old and my husband is 82. We are pensioners, yet every day, we have to carry 20-litre containers of water. It has been five or six years since we had a normal water supply, but we still receive high water bills every month. That is not right,” said Sayeeda Ismail.
Sarojini Dorasamy, a resident from Moseley, said they have been without reliable water for 42 days from January this year.
“We get water every now and again from 3am to 6am, and there is no schedule. This is affecting about 16 roads in Moseley and 4 roads in Northdene. The water tanker comes during the day, and that is when most working people are at work.”
Beyond being inconvenienced, residents emphasised the severe health implications.
"The president said, ‘Water is life, sanitation is dignity,’ but where is our dignity? Women suffer from UTIs (urinary tract infections), young girls are struggling during their periods, and even schools are closing early because of the water crisis. How are children supposed to learn?” asked Dorasamy.
Community representatives had a meeting with the municipal officials at the Water and Sanitation office and then came to address the protesters.
Community representative Laeka Edries stated that a meeting with municipal representatives was to be held on Wednesday.
She said they are hopeful that Wednesday’s meeting will lead to tangible solutions.
"We want to speak to the people that are on the ground. They have agreed to a meeting for that, and that’s what will take place on Wednesday. It's the first time that someone’s actually getting to meet with their technical department," Edries said.
Meanwhile the DA has welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to authorise the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe alleged corruption in eThekwini’s Water and Sanitation Department.
The investigation will focus on allegations of fraud and mismanagement in the Y6525AZ1 infrastructure project.
DA eThekwini caucus leader Thabani Mthethwa said: "People are justifiably frustrated, more so at the lack of urgency by the ANC/IFP city leadership and officials to resolve the water situation," Mthethwa said. "The ANC must account for why it allowed the infrastructure to collapse under its watch."
Mthethwa added that the SIU probe is crucial in uncovering the extent of mismanagement. "The admission that infrastructure is not coping is to be blamed on the ANC and all those senior managers who presided over this rot over the years."
He further called for immediate interventions. "More resources, both human and financial, are needed to urgently attend to this crisis and remove political interference," he said.