Eight years without running water in eThekwini

The borehole standpipe outside the Philangezwi daycare centre in Fakazi village, from which some of the residents get their water. Photo: Tsoanelo Sefoloko

• The communal standpipes serving villages on Durban’s rural outskirts have been dry since 2016.
• Villagers say the provision of water by water trucks is insufficient, and they have to also get water from streams.
• The municipality says it’s been working on the problem since 2019, and a new bulk water supply scheme is due to be completed between 2027 and 2030.

Taps have been dry for more than eight years in eThekwini municipality’s ward 105. The residents of numerous villages scattered across the hilly, rural area, say their taps started running dry as far back as 2014, when water flow was restricted to night-time only, but there hasn’t been a drop since they were made part of eThekwini.

The area used to be part of the Vulamehlo and Umdoni local municipalities, which fell under the Ugu District Municipality, but was shifted to the eThekwini municipality in 2016. Ward residents said that while there were problems with water provision under the Ugu municipality - which is struggling to provide water to households on the South Coast - it got worse when eThekwini was put in charge.

Ward 105 is about 40km southeast of Durban, and includes the Fakazi, Mgendwa, , Wubwini, Amandlethu, Thenjana, and Mfume villages which all lack access to running water.

Some residents in Fakazi village rely on a borehole installed at the Philangezwi daycare centre by humanitarian aid organisation Humanity South Africa two years ago.

Residents said the borehole standpipe had been set up outside the daycare premises so that families could get access to it at any time. In return residents had agreed to help maintain it. The residents said they did not want to be named, as they could not speak without the approval of the induna.

Although there is a sign at the standpipe stating the water is not drinkable, and is only for household use such as laundry, a resident said people drank it as it had since been tested and found to be clean.

People living further away from the daycare centre get their water from the closest stream, as a water truck only arrives twice a month, on a Sunday. And residents say the water truck does not bring enough water to service the entire village, and some residents have to cart their supply of water 500m or more due to lack of access roads to their homes.

Community leader Sikhumbuzo Cele said the ward is one of the biggest in the municipality, with more than 5,000 households. Cele said besides protests where they handed over memorandums, they had been trying to engage the municipality “through emails, calls, and even visited the water depot several times with no luck”.

As a result, “some community members have resorted to violence” through strikes and pickets.

He said not only were the water trucks insufficient, elderly people, and people on medication, were not able to fetch water from the trucks. On Wednesday, when GroundUp last spoke to him, he said it had been three weeks and counting since the water truck had last arrived.

A resident of nearby Wubwini village, Sdumsile Khanyase, said their communal taps have also been dry since 2016, and households rely on water trucks and the river for their water. “We are sharing water with the animals in the river,” said Khanyase.

eThekwini municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said for the last five years, the municipality had been working on the Mfume system upgrade project to tackle the ongoing water shortage in these areas.

Sisilana said the project planning phase had been completed in 2021 and was currently awaiting approval for implementation.

“The current construction of the Umngeni – Uthukela water lower Umkhomazi scheme, which is scheduled for completion between 2027-2030, is anticipated to address the limited bulk water supply,” said Sisilana.

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