The Minister of Water and Sanitation, Mr Senzo Mchunu, has appealed to local authorities to prioritize maintenance of water infrastructure in their area of operation to enhance uninterrupted water supply to communities.
Minister Mchunu made this appeal during the joint Imbizo Yamanzi held on Wednesday, 20 December 2023 at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi, in efforts to find lasting solutions to water challenges experienced in Umlazi and some parts of eThekwini. The imbizo was an initiative of all spheres of government and was attended by the Executive Mayor of eThekwini Municipality, Cllr Mxolisi Kaunda, Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, Mr David Mahlobo, MEC responsible for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in KwaZulu-Natal, Ms Bongi Sithole-Moloi, amongst other dignitaries.
Delivering a keynote address during the imbizo, Minister Mchunu said some water problems experienced in some communities could have been easily resolved had local authorities stuck to the basics of operations and maintenance of infrastructure from the onset.
“The problems that we have currently can be resolved and resolved quite urgently and expeditiously if we go back to the basics. Our infrastructure has a life span, and we need to take serious care of it before it is too late. We must not allow our infrastructure to reach its life span, we need to act proactively to ensure that our house is in order. We are where we are because people are too relaxed at times and only react when there are problems”, he emphasised.
He said he was encouraged by the resolved shown by Cllr Kaunda to resolve issues in a short space of time to the benefit of communities of Umlazi and surrounding areas.
“We need aggression and urgency in the manner in which we deal with water provision to our communities, we need to accelerate the pace in which we do things. Where there are issues, we need to be decisive and a sense of urgency is needed, we can’t relax when people do not have water. Let us talk, decide, and implement with a speed that is required and ensure that we fulfill our mandate of providing people with adequate water supply,” he added.
Cllr Kaunda said eThekwini Municipality is doing the best it can to resolve the current water challenges in the City and appealed to provincial and national government to give them the necessary support in their resolve.
“We are regulated by provincial and national spheres of government in our constitutional mandate as the Water Service Authority and we acknowledge our role and responsibility. We cannot do this alone, we need all the support that we can get, with capacity and resources”, he said.
He dispelled the notion of mistrust of the quality of water in the city and said water gets tested twice a week by the city and independent scientists to ensure compliance with quality standards.
Cllr Kaunda urged residents to work with the city and pay for services rendered to them so that revenue collected can be reinvested to improve their lives for the better.
“Only those who are not working are exempted from paying for government services and they need to come to us and register as indigent, so that they can be on the indigent programme of the city”, Cllr Kaunda emphasised.
uMngeni-uThukela Water has entered into a short-term operation and maintenance contract with eThekwini Metro to prioritize waste water maintenance. As part of this agreement, uMngeni-uThukela Water will operate waste water works owned by eThekwini and two pump stations deemed critical and this represents 90% of the effluent that the City treats. uMngeni-uThukela Water has been working on priority projects to urgently improve compliance and has since delivered chemicals necessary for treatment in all the waste water works needing chemicals and is currently spreading the refurbishment of infrastructure.
eThekwini Metro is supplied from two largest water treatment plants, the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant with a capacity of 615 Ml/d and Wiggins Water Treatment Plant with a capacity of 315 Ml/d. A further is from Midmar Water Treatment Plant, DV Harris Water Treatment Plant via uMbumbulu pumpstation and Point M. All these schemes abstract raw water from the Mgeni River System through Midmar, Nagle and Inanda dams.
For more information, contact
Cell: 076 523 0085
Mluleki Mntungwa for the eThekwini Municipality
Cell: 060 974 1140
