The DA in Msunduzi has received credible information that the municipality failed to submit documentation and to send a single representative to the current Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) Blue Drop audit of the Msunduzi water system.
We have since written to the Deputy Ministers of Water and Sanitation to confirm the full details and what corrective action will be taken.
If confirmed, that is an extraordinary failure.
A Blue Drop score is proof that a municipality is meeting its legal duties under the Water Services Act to ensure safe, sustainable drinking water, to monitor quality under SANS 241, to report to DWS, and to maintain and secure its infrastructure.
The risks of a no-show are severe:
– Automatic failure: evidence not presented scores zero. Non-attendance is recorded as non-compliance.
-One-sided record: Only the bulk supplier’s evidence is on file. Msunduzi cannot defend itself.
-Loss of status and funding: Msunduzi risks losing Blue Drop certification, credibility, and access to conditional water grants.
-DWS enforcement: Failure to report water quality can trigger a Section 62/63 intervention directive.
-Legal liability: As the Water Services Authority, Msunduzi remains liable for safe water. With no evidence submitted, it cannot prove due diligence if contamination occurs.
-Unresolved infrastructure risks: This comes while serious security breaches raised with Msunduzi remain unresolved, including at the Murray/Bellevue reservoirs.
The ANC-led administration cannot blame the water board, contractors or residents when it fails to show up to account for its own system.
In a municipality where residents and businesses battle on a daily with constant water outages, we cannot afford leadership that puts at risk the little that we get to mitigate the water outages.
Residents need safe water, secure infrastructure and accountability, not excuses.