eThekwini municipality is drowning in the outcry from thousands of ratepayers, protesting plumbers and critical politicians over water woes.
This week about 50 contractors disrupted operations at the municipality’s water services depot in Pinetown by blocking the gates, demanding a meeting with officials over outstanding payment and new contracting processes.
This follows a similar downing of tools in April by contractors who say they are yet to be paid since December and that municipal officials have been ducking meetings with them.
Contractors, some of whom have worked for the municipality for over 20 years and have not worked since last year, say the municipality has appointed new service providers before resolving existing contracts, many of whom paid workers well below municipal rates.
Last week, thousands of residents were without water for three days in Westville and Mount Moriah in apparent sabotage-related outages.
The municipality condemned the unlawful blocking of water depots by disgruntled contractors, saying these actions have “obstructed municipal employees from performing their duties and disrupted the provision of essential water services to residents”.
City manager Musa Mbhele told the executive committee this was related to a decision to revise the appointment process for contract plumbers, after Auditor-General (AG) findings determined that the previous contracting arrangement was irregular.
“In line with the AG’s recommendations, the city introduced a new procurement model through the Contractor Infrastructure Panel (CIP) to manage plumbing services. While some contractors challenged this process in court, interim measures were implemented under the approved CIP management contract to safeguard continuity of service delivery.”
He said certain former contractors were unhappy, insisting on direct individual contracts with the city rather than operating as subcontractors under appointed managing contractors.
Mbhele said despite these disputes, implementation of the new system is progressing. In the Northern Region, onboarding has been completed and work is under way, with rollout continuing across other regions.
Executive director of technical services Ednick Msweli confirmed the current dispute relates primarily to the transition to the new contracting model. He further clarified that payment rates remain unchanged from the previous arrangement, with subcontractors now working under managing contractors who receive a 15% management fee approved by the city’s Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC).
The municipality has approved the recruitment of 121 additional plumbers and to date, the city said, 44 appointments have been finalised, bringing Ethekwini’s internal complement to approximately 56 plumbers. Recruitment of plumbing assistants is also under way to reinforce these teams.
Residents continue to experience numerous unattended leaks, prolonged water outages and unacceptable service delays. The public should not bear the consequences of contractual disputes, procurement transitions or operational shortcomings.
— Asad Gaffar, ERPM’s chairperson
DA eThekwini trading services whip Allan Peterson said the extent of the water issues was evident following the Trading Services Committee’s monthly meeting on Monday, where it became clear that the city’s complement of just 56 internal plumbers, without contractor support, is insufficient to address the scale of eThekwini’s water crisis.
Peterson said it has emerged the city has more than 12,000 water leaks and needs to take urgent steps to reduce non-revenue water (NRW).
The DA also raised serious concerns over reports presented by the eThekwini water and sanitation (EWS) department and the NRW portfolio.
“While the NRW portfolio is relatively new to the committee, the latest report shows NRW reached 65% in June 2026, with an annual average of 55%. Both figures remain well above acceptable levels and are of grave concern.
“Every litre of treated water lost comes at a cost to ratepayers, weakens the city’s already strained water infrastructure and worsens water insecurity, despite residents paying higher tariffs.”
Councillor Imtiaz Syed said the cost implication of having internal plumbers employed by the municipality versus contractors is exponential. This is because municipal vehicles are being stolen and staff threatened, requiring them to go out with security, which pushes up costs.
“Historically contractors were being paid R3,000 per shift and it emerged that sometimes up to four different contractors were paid before the leak or issue was addressed often up to 24 hours later. This meant something like a simple leak was costing R24,000.”
He said the new system meant there are five subcontractors and all service providers need to fall under them for the purpose of accountability.
Meanwhile the eThekwini Ratepayers Protest Movement (ERPM) said the ongoing deterioration of water service delivery across the municipality, the transition to the new contractor model and the impact this transition is having on residents and affected contractors, is unacceptable.
ERPM’s chairperson Asad Gaffar said they’ve engaged with affected contractors who raised a number of issues that the municipality had allegedly failed to address.
“They further allege that they have not been paid for work undertaken since November 2025, resulting in severe financial hardship for themselves and their families. According to the information presented to us, many were compelled to stop working in March 2026.”
Gaffar said while the ERPM notes the transition in terms of the CIP following findings by the AG that the previous contracting arrangement was irregular, a number of issues are still outstanding.
They wanted clarity on:
- whether all legitimate invoices for work completed before the transition have been settled and, if not, what steps are being taken to resolve any outstanding payments;
- what consultation or stakeholder engagement took place with long-serving contractors before implementing the new procurement model;
- whether the municipality has assessed the operational impact that the transition has had on response times, leak repairs and water outages;
- whether sufficient contractor and municipal capacity currently exists to respond to the growing number of reported water leaks across the municipality; and
- the measures being implemented to ensure that residents do not continue to experience prolonged interruptions to essential water services.
“Residents continue to experience numerous unattended leaks, prolonged water outages and unacceptable service delays. The public should not bear the consequences of contractual disputes, procurement transitions or operational shortcomings.”
Gaffar called for an urgent meeting with municipal officials within seven days to address outstanding issues.
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