Northdene residents demand action amid ongoing water crisis
|Published
The community of Northdene, Moseley Park, and surrounding areas in Queensburgh have been without a reliable water supply for nearly a month, with some residents reporting that they endured more than 200 days without water in the past year.
Frustrated by what they describe as a humanitarian crisis, residents took to the streets in a peaceful protest on Saturday to demand urgent intervention from the eThekwini Municipality.
Ward councillor Chris van den Berg said the crisis had worsened since the 2022 floods.
“People in these areas have been without water for a month this time. Access to water tankers has also been challenging, as there are not enough to supply people in an adequate manner,” said Van den Berg.
He said residents deserved answers from the City.
“All people want to know is when they will have water. The problem is city-wide, and thus, the solution must be city-wide. The issue with the southern aqueduct is that there is not enough water supply and pressure from the Durban Heights Treatment Works, which has made it impossible for the southern aqueduct to recover and for reservoirs to fill up.”
Resident Rachel Cooper, described the crisis as “a humanitarian disaster” and accused the municipality of neglecting basic infrastructure repairs.
“Residents of the high-lying areas of Northdene, namely O’Reilly Crescent, Snaresbrook Road, and Main Road, and some roads in Moseley, have not had water for 24 days this year and over 200 days last year. We have, on very rare occasions, been lucky enough to have water for two hours in the morning but by 6.30 am, it is off again,” she said.
Another resident, Michelle Matthysen said access to water was a human right.
“People need reliable access to water to drink, cook, maintain hygiene, wash clothes, and flush toilets. It is very difficult to live and go to work when you come home, and there is no water, and when you wake up, there is still no water,” she said.
“It’s also difficult to get water from tankers; not everyone has transport, and pensioners can’t carry heavy containers of water. It’s tiring and back-breaking. Buying drinking water gets expensive.”
“We need water to come out of the taps, the water we are paying the municipality for,” she said.
Municipal spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said: “The City is aware of water supply challenges affecting all areas supplied from the southern aqueduct where supply is intermittent. The construction of the 24km aqueduct is in progress.
“This pipeline will bring much-needed relief to downstream areas in the south, including Chatsworth and Shallcross. Water outages have recently been exacerbated by the heatwave and the increased demand from the festive season,” Sisilana said.
She added that the demand for water in eThekwini has outpaced available supply due to population growth, leaks caused by vandalism, ageing infrastructure, and high consumption levels.
“The bulk capacity of all three major treatment works supplying the City has been reached. The City has been experiencing a water deficit since 2018. To address water supply challenges, we are undertaking a collaborative effort involving the City, the National Department of Water and Sanitation, and uMngeni-uThukela Water to construct and commission the Lower and Upper uMkhomazi Dams.”
However, in the meantime, residents must reduce their daily water usage.
“The City implements water rationing in all parts of the southern aqueduct from time to time. This is an operational decision that is only implemented when there’s high demand. The heatwave and peak season demand have resulted in a spike in water consumption,” she said.