eThekwini residents say a last-minute decision to abort a planned water shutdown to accommodate the G20 Summit in the city was an attempt to present a false narrative to international visitors.
KwaZulu-Natal bulk water authority uMngeni-uThukela Water announced at the weekend it would be pausing operations at the Wiggins water treatment plant from Tuesday morning to replace a 1,200mm gravity sales meter and inspect pipeline meters for billing accuracy.
The utility warned that though the shutdown was expected to last 24 hours, it could take up to two weeks for a full recovery, especially for high-lying areas where water reservoirs take longer to refill.
However, water and sanitation minister Pemmy Majodina sent a directive to the water utility to postpone the planned shutdown to areas that would host the meetings as a precursor to the G20 Summit, which will be hosted on the continent for the first time in November.
“The department has been communicating with municipalities to develop plans to ensure there are no water interruptions at the venues where meetings are being held. Meetings have been scheduled to take place at Arch Convention Centre in Umhlanga on April 8-11 and at the Durban International Convention Centre on April 10-11,” said Majodina in a letter directed to uMngeni-uThukela Water Board chairperson Adv Vusi Khuzwayo.
“In light of importance of the G20 meetings and the need to minimise the risk of any water supply interruptions to venues where meetings are being held, you are requested to postpone this planned shutdown.”
TimesLIVE Premium understands the preparation for the scheduled maintenance had began, including shutting access from Inanda Dam to the Wiggins Water Treatment Plant, which is about 90km away, when the directive was received, and as a result some areas in the city had started experiencing water shortages.
EThekwini Residents and Ratepayers Association (ERRA), which represents a number of associations in the city, said areas such as Sherwood and Bonela had no water.
Norman Gilbert, chairperson of the Bluff Ratepayers and Residents Association, said the area began running dry just after lunchtime on Tuesday in the high-lying areas and by the evening, almost the whole Bluff and some areas in the south Durban basin areas also experienced water cuts.
Water supply started returning on Wednesday morning and they expect all areas would have it back by the evening.
Ward 23 councillor Alicia Kissoon also expressed concerns.
“We do still have areas without water because the reservoirs still have to fill up. Areas like Clare Estate because they are fed by Sherwood 3 reservoir were affected, so my residents have been without water from yesterday [Tuesday] and they may be without it for a few more hours still depending on how long it takes the reservoirs to fill,” she said.
Gilbert said the postponed maintenance work was important, but the water and sanitation department chose to present a “rosy image” to international visitors who will be in Durban for about three days by letting the residents suffer.
“You left most of Durban without water for a day and a half now and once these visitors leave, the paying residents will still be faced with the same problem that uMngeni-uThukela Water was trying to fix in the first place.
“So to avoid inconveniencing maybe a 100 or 200 delegates, we would rather inconvenience the entire city for another two or three weeks while we wait for another shutdown to take place. That’s illogical and it is time that those who govern put the interests of the country ahead of their own personal agendas.”
Imtiaz Syed, Active Citizens Coalition leader in eThekwini council, said the matter could’ve been handled better without wasting resources that had already been used and putting some residents through hours of water shortages only for the shutdown to be postponed.
“The problem is how do we start a project and then postpone it after spending all that money. We understand the summit is a big thing for the city, but it can’t be deemed to be the most important thing above the ratepayers,” he said.
ERRA chairperson Asad Gaffer said the directive from government raises questions about the leadership and planning of both the department and the city.
“uMngeni-uThukela Water put out a notice of the planned shutdown ahead of time which means the city was aware of it, but at the same time the G20 summit is also planned in advance which means they don’t know what they are doing,” he said.
“Surely if you do the planning in advance the one or the other would’ve said that can’t be done on this day because there’s this summit.
“We’re very upset and if we knew in advance that they were planning to do this then we would’ve got all the ratepayers outside the G20 Summit to stand with the placards.”
uMngeni-uThukela Water spokesperson Siyabonga Maphumulo said the utility and the eThekwini municipality would have to decide on a new date for the project.
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