The DA in Msunduzi Local Municipality has written to Water and Sanitation Head of Department, Mr. Hlela to request effective solutions to address the impact of water cuts on residents and local businesses (view letter here).
Residents and businesses have been severely impacted by intermittent water supply disruptions, highlighting the urgent need for effective solutions. The shortage of critical infrastructure components has hindered repair and maintenance efforts, further aggravating the situation.
We urge the Msunduzi municipality to:
1. Prioritize procurement of necessary materials.
2. Streamline administrative processes.
3. Enhance communication with affected communities.
The past few weeks have seen severe water hassles plague the Msunduzi community, exacerbated by the unavailability of specific pipe sizes and essential fittings. Compounding these issues is the poor administrative performance of the Msunduzi municipality, despite having been under administration and now recently being removed from administration due to their “effective management”strategies.
Two recent examples just in Ward 36 illustrate the severity of the crisis:
-Croft Road residents endured a 96-hour water outage, with an attempted repair failing after just two hours, leaving residents without water for almost four days.
-Windsor Avenue suffered a 40-hour outage, demonstrating the municipality’s inability to provide reliable water services.
This water crisis is not limited to any singular area either, many communities have been plagued with lack of resources leading to extended delays in effecting repairs.
Residents deserve reliable water services. We demand swift action to resolve these issues.