Note to editors: Find Soundbite by Sakhile Mngadi MPL in English here and IsiZulu here.
• Ilembe District has ignored the DA’s memorandum on the worsening water crisis, showing a disregard for residents’ needs.
• Over 40% of residents lack reliable water as infrastructure fails and the municipality stays silent.
It has now been one full month since the Democratic Alliance (DA) formally handed over a memorandum of demands to the Ilembe District Municipality, outlining urgent interventions needed to address the escalating water crisis facing communities across the district. To date, the municipality has failed to acknowledge, respond to, or act on any of the issues raised.
This blatant disregard for residents’ suffering proves that the ANC-led Ilembe District Municipality is completely out of touch with the lived realities of the people they claim to serve. Their silence is not only irresponsible—it is inhumane.
Communities across KwaDukuza, Ndwedwe, Mandeni, and Maphumulo continue to suffer daily under unreliable water supply, dry taps, and dysfunctional water infrastructure.
According to available data:
• Over 40% of Ilembe households do not have access to reliable piped water.
• Water losses due to leaks and poor maintenance exceed 30%, one of the highest rates in the province.
• In some wards, residents have not had running water for weeks, relying instead on water tankers that often arrive late, if at all.
This crisis has become a public health emergency and a threat to human dignity. The municipality’s failure to respond to our memorandum demonstrates institutional apathy and gross negligence.
The DA will now escalate this matter through the following steps:
– Petition the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature to summon the Ilembe District Mayor and Municipal Manager to account before Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA). We have written to CoGTA Portfolio committee chairperson Hon. Marlaine Nair (view here).
– Lay a formal complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission, citing violations of residents’ constitutional right to access clean water.
– Mobilise affected communities for further peaceful protest action until their voices are heard and action is taken.
– Submit parliamentary questions to the Minister of Water and Sanitation to uncover the real reasons behind water infrastructure collapse and non-responsiveness in the district.
We are sending a clear message to the Ilembe District Municipality: You cannot ignore the people. The DA will not rest until every household in this district has access to clean, reliable water—and until those in leadership who continue to fail our communities are held accountable.