In the context of ongoing water supply disruptions in eThekwini, the Minister of Water and Sanitation, Ms Pemmy Majodina and Deputy Minister David Mahlobo convened an urgent meeting with the Mayor of eThekwini Municipality, Cllr Cyril Xaba and the uMngeni uThukela Water Board (UUW) Chairperson, Advocate Vusi Khuzwayo this morning to discuss the causes of the disruptions and what needs to be done to address them.
The root cause of the water supply disruptions is that the demand for treated water in eThekwini is exceeding the available supply of treated water. Demand for water in eThekwini has grown rapidly, largely due to population growth, and partly due to leaks in the Municipality’s water distribution systems.
This results in a situation where the City’s reservoirs become depleted, because water is being drawn out of them faster than the reservoirs can be filled. This particularly affects water supply to high-lying areas and areas far from the reservoirs, because the water levels in the reservoirs drop to a level where they are insufficient to provide the pressure required to get water to the high-lying and far-away areas. This has been the main cause of water supply disruptions in Chatsworth, Umlazi and surrounding areas in the South, as well as Verulam, Tongaat and Ntuzuma in the North.
In addition, UUW had to shut down one of its pipelines last month to allow for the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) to upgrade the N3 highway. This affected water supply to Hillcrest and other areas outer west of the City. This work is almost complete, and the pipeline is expected to come back into operation on Thursday, 27 February 2025.
To ensure a continuous supply of water to users even in times of drought, Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) sets a limit on the amount of raw water that uMngeni-uThukela Water can abstract from the uMngeni Water Supply System (uMWS) for eThekwini to its consumers. Dam storage levels can fall rapidly when there is a drought, and it would therefore be irresponsible to raise the abstraction limit when the dams are full.
UUW has been exceeding the abstraction limit imposed by DWS, and consequently the Department instructed UUW to curtail its abstraction in October 2024. During the December holidays, when demand for water peaked in eThekwini, DWS temporarily lifted this curtailment directive, but it was reinstated again in mid-January 2025.
Various projects are underway to augment the amount of water in the uMWS. The raising of the Hazelmere Dam wall was completed in 2023 at a cost of R820 million and has doubled the amount of water that can be stored in the Dam. uMngeni-uThukela Water has completed a project to increase the capacity of the Hazelmere Water Treatment Works from 55 to 75 megalitres per day (75 million litres per day), at a cost of R135 million. The capacity of the treatment work will be further increased to 90 megalitres per day within the next three years, at a cost of R25 million.
In addition, UUW is currently constructing a dam and a 100 megalitres treatment plant on the Lower uMkhomazi River. The Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) is at an advanced stage of raising R28 billion for the construction of a large new dam and transfer tunnel on the upper uMkhomazi River which is part of the uMkhomazi Water Project. UWW is in the process of procuring additional treatment capacity so that it will be able to treat and supply more water to eThekwini once the uMkhomazi Water Project is completed.
eThekwini Municipality is also working on its own measures to increase the supply of water. In addition to the existing water re-use plant currently being used by industries, which the City is implementing as a public private partnership, the City is in the process of procuring two additional water re-use plants that will treat secondary effluent to produce potable water that meets the required water quality standards. It is also planning to implement two seawater desalination projects. All these projects will also be implemented through public private partnerships.
The City is implementing several major projects to increase the resilience of its water distribution system to breakdowns and to enable it to manage peaks in demand better with fewer water supply disruptions. Examples of these include the R1.2 billion Southern Aqueduct upgrade which is approximately 30% complete; the commissioning of the new Northern Aqueduct which is approximately 70% complete; and the R60 million upgrade of the Tongaat Water Treatment Works, which will be commencing this year. The City is implementing many other projects around the City, including the upgrading of pump stations and the installation of standby generators in Verulam.
The City Council approved a water and sanitation turnaround strategy in April 2023, which is now under implementation. The strategy includes ringfencing revenue from the sale of water for the water function, reduction of non-revenue water (NRW), improving leak repair, and disconnection of illegal connections.
The backlog of water leaks requiring repair has been significantly reduced. The City is in the procurement stage of a public private partnership to mobilise private sector funding and expertise to reduce non-revenue water. The City is also in the process of issuing several City-funded contracts for non-revenue water reduction.
The City is also installing pressure management valves to reduce the water pressure in the water distribution system, which reduces the frequency of pipe bursts and extends the useful life of the infrastructure. It also reduces the amount of water lost through leaks in the system. A programme to replace old leaking water distribution pipes is also being implemented.
The meeting this morning agreed on the following measures that will be implemented, in addition to those described above:
a) The City Council will consider implementing formal water-use restrictions through by-laws
b) Given the recent rainfall and improvement in dam levels in the uMWS, DWS will again temporarily lift the curtailment, with effect from today, until 23 April 2025
c) Weekly technical coordination meetings between the City, UUW and DWS will continue and there will be weekly meetings between the Mayor, the Minister and the Chairperson of UUW to review progress
d) This work will be coordinated with the forthnightly meetings of the water and sanitation workstream meetings of the Presidential eThekwini Working Group
e) The City and UUW will improve their communications regarding water supply disruptions to residents, including the causes of the disruptions and what is being done about them.
The public is encouraged to play their part in reducing the risk of water supply disruptions. All water users in the Municipality are encouraged to use water sparingly to reduce the average consumption of water per capita per day. The 2023 DWS No Drop audit (which was released by DWS in December 2023) found this to be 298 liters/capita/day, compared to the international average of 173 l/c/d.
Jointly issued by the Department of Water & Sanitation, Umngeni-Uthukela Water and eThekwini Metro.
For enquiries:
Wisane Mavasa, Spokesperson for the Department of Water and Sanitation
Cell: 060 561 8935
Siyabonga Maphumulo, Spokesperson for Umngeni-Uthukela Water
Cell: 082 303 4243
Mandla Nsele, eThekwini Deputy Head of Communication
Cell: 083 308 2639
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