12 June 2024
Residents wait to collect water from one of the functioning standpipes in Amaoti. Photo: Nokulunga Majola
The eThekwini municipality says the water crisis in some northern parts of the city such as Amaoti will only be resolved in 2025, when work on upgrading the Ntuzuma pump station has been completed.
Municipal spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said that Amaoti is among the areas whose water is pumped through the Ntuzuma Pump Station to the eTafuleni reservoir.
“The eTafuleni reservoir struggles to maintain sufficient water levels. However, the work of upgrading the Ntuzuma Pump Station 2 is in progress. Residents are urged to be patient,” Sisilana said.
The project is scheduled to be completed in 2025, she said.
“As part of interim interventions, the City rations water and deploys water tankers to affected areas. Standpipes and four tanks have been installed and are filled on scheduled days in Amaoti,” she added.
“While interim relief is provided, the municipality is also been faced with a challenge of residents who illegally connect their pipes to the static tanks and standpipes into their properties. The effect of this is that available water supply is not shared equitably amongst residents and water depletes quickly”.
But residents say they wouldn’t have had to resort to illegal connections if their taps had not been dry for about a year. They say water tankers don’t deliver sufficient water.
Thandazile Makhubela of Angola section in Amaoti, north of Durban, said they can’t bath or flush their toilets. “We rely on water tankers, but they don’t come frequently,” she said. “I was in a car accident, so it is a mission for me to collect water from the tanker because there are a lot of people pushing and pulling. If you are slow, you go home without water,” Makhubela said.
She said the municipality was downplaying the severity of the water crisis in their community. “Since last year, they have been saying that the water situation will be resolved, but nothing has changed.”
Resident Sipho Mahanye said residents had welcomed the City’s announcement earlier this year of repairs to the Ntuzuma pump station, but nothing had changed.“This is not a life, it is difficult to do washing, cleaning, even using the toilets. People even pray for rain so we can get water,” he said.