Durban’s water crisis has spiralled out of control and the city, with a R55bn budget, has no money allocated to tackle the situation. While the carnage is often blamed on the April floods, civil society and other stakeholders claim that years of poor infrastructure management has worsened the situation.
City bosses paint a bleak picture and speak of a growing population that was not included in their plans. Ednick Msweli, head of water and sanitation in eThekwini, estimates that replacement of the bulk water infrastructure would cost close to R10bn. “Replacement of sewerage infrastructure, aged and not properly maintained, would cost about R4.5bn,” he said.
Hard-pressed ratepayers and businesses are footing the bill for the growing need for water to be supplied to informal settlements — money that could be used to maintain infrastructure. To put in place new infrastructure would cost R20bn over the next decade, said Msweli.
Given the escalated costs, the DA in the eThekwini municipality fought hard to prevent the recent budgets from being passed. It raised the ire of organised business, concerned that the hefty tariff is scaring away investors.
“Investors are seeking profitable and favourable business destinations with easy and affordable access to services. The rising costs of doing business will impact negatively on the competitiveness of Durban as a business location. The retention of businesses within Durban is a priority and tariff increases should not be punitive,” said Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Nigel Ward.
In August, Rashnie Baijnath, a mother of two, died after drinking contaminated water. She lived in Birchwood, west of the city, a suburb once considered a middle-class sanctuary close to the scenic and historic Marrianhill. Since her death several residents have told Business Day that the eThekwini municipality had issued warnings for residents not to drink the water, and schools in the area were given advisories.
Resident Pinky Mkhize told Business Day they are living on a prayer. “We live in fear. We have to boil water. We have to make sure our children know how to take care of themselves while we work. We pray they are safe.”
Worst hit
The situation is worse in the Tongaat area in the north of the city where residents in several suburbs have been without water for nearly 150 days. Tongaat Civic Association member Charles Chetty said the municipality is not interested in the plight of the people. “Instead, they are more interested to see how much money they can make from bringing in water tankers to deliver water. No-one cares about the lives lost, the property lost. It’s just about money.”
In and around the city, pipe bursts happen regularly and businesses and residents in some suburbs go without water for up to three days. “It is frustrating,” said Berea resident John Anthony. “Even more worrying is that in some instances the municipality will send different teams to work on the same problem. It is not unusual for the problems to occur in the same spot week after week.” Schools, universities and business were regularly affected, he said.
Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman has been working on the ground and providing water to residents in Tongaat and the south coast. “The water crises is causing a knock-on effect for jobs, tourism, service delivery and the economy,” he said.
“Man-made problems in the main, the lack of maintenance in dams and infrastructure by local authorities is the problem. The usual is that local government blames national government and there is no accountability. It’s time all tiers of government come together to find a lasting solution to the problems,” Sooliman said.
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