Residents in the largest municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal facing looming water restrictions have warned interventions will not be effective as long as infrastructure maintenance and rehabilitation are not prioritised.
This comes after uMngeni-uThukela Water issued a statement on Monday reintroducing water curtailment measures in the eThekwini metro, uMsunduzi local municipality and uMgungundlovu district municipality from the beginning of September.
Siyabonga Maphumulo, UUW spokesperson, said the measures comply with the water and sanitation’s licence conditions, which require the water body to stay within designated limits for water abstraction from dams.
“This is to safeguard the long-term sustainability of the system and ensure water availability in times of low or no rainfall,” he said.
The curtailment measures in the three municipalities, all supplied by the uMngeni River system, were first implemented in October 2024 when DWS found they had exceeded their licensed abstraction licence from UUW’s catchment system and were given a directive to gradually reduce its consumption over the next 12 months.
Maphumulo said eThekwini, as the UUW’s largest client, is also its biggest culprit for over-abstraction, exceeding its limit about 90m litres per day, or just more than 8%, while records are vague on the uMgungundlovu district and uMsunduzi municipalities.
The curtailments were temporarily suspended after a “healthy” summer rainfall season and overflowing dams, and the water authority has continued exceeding the supply limit to the three municipalities.
Maphumulo said the reinstatement of the curtailments is not necessarily cause for immediate alarm.
“While dam levels within the uMngeni system are currently stable, it is critical to implement prudent water management measures in anticipation of possible future drought conditions. The curtailments will involve a percentage reduction in water supplies to the affected municipalities.”
Residents in these municipalities say the reinstatement of the restrictions were “disappointing,” but acknowledge they are unavoidable given South Africa's water crisis.
They noted much of the increased demand, which has necessitated the over-abstraction, stems from the water losses these municipalities incur and placed the onus on them to improve their water infrastructure.
The issue about curtailment is understandable, but as long as this does not become an excuse for poor water management later, because a lot of areas have been having no water for long periods so curtailment must not become an excuse
— Ish Prahladh, of eThekwini Ratepayers and Residents Association
Ish Prahladh of eThekwini Ratepayers and Residents Association, said curtailments as a temporary measure to manage water were acceptable but expressed concern that the municipality may use it to mask its ongoing supply failures for a prolonged period.
“The issue about curtailment is understandable, but as long as this does not become an excuse for poor water management later, because a lot of areas have been having no water for long periods so curtailment must not become an excuse. I’m hoping we will have this curtailment and the water gets to its normal supply to the communities, without any delays,” he said.
“Remember our dam levels are not low and are at a good level, so distribution of water to all of the communities cannot be an issue after this.”
eThekwini has one of the highest non-revenue water losses in the country, with an estimated 57% of its water lost through leaks, illegal connections and unbilled consumption.
That and the poorly maintained infrastructure have resulted in many areas experiencing intermittent water supply before the curtailments.
However, residents in Pietermaritzburg and the Midlands said these challenges are mutual.
Anthony Walhausen, chairperson of the Msunduzi Association of Residents, Ratepayers and Civics, said that was the reason the intervention does not come as a surprise.
“It’s disappointing because the municipality is losing a lot of the water it over-extracts to outages and leaks , not to its intended beneficiaries, the residents. There’s been too many burst pipes and leakages, and even when we report them they take too long to repair them. We report leakages, escalate them with ward councillors, but sometimes they go over a year without repairs, so we suffer more because of poor workmanship and slow response time from municipal officials.”
He said it remains to be seen how uMsunduzi municipality will deal with the looming curtailment considering it is already experiencing water challenges.
That point was repeated by Brunetta Reddy, acting spokesperson for the Northern Areas Ratepayers and Residents Association in Pietermaritzburg.
“Two weeks ago, residents in the northern areas went without water for nine straight days and there were no answers. We have a deputy mayor and residents who sit on infrastructure committees, but nobody can give us answers.”
She said UUW had done all it could over the years to prevent supply challenges, but the municipalities were not pulling their weight.
“I understand that our reservoirs are overstretched with the demands of the municipalities. I don’t believe they were created with enough understanding of the population growth. There is also the issue of the burst pipes, the informal settlements ... I don’t think our infrastructure is maintained or is enlarged enough to cater for all of this at the moment. I really hope it is the reservoirs and not that the municipality is owing uMngeni money because it happened before and they had to limit services.”
Walhausen said they were told that the municipality would need R2bn to repair its water infrastructure, but he was not confident in the current leadership spending that money wisely even if they were to get it.
“R2bn to repair the water infrastructure, but looking at their track record with the finances and irregular expenditure. It's not easy to believe they would use that amount for its intended purpose. I mean, they sponsored Royal AM for R27m in spite of all these challenges.”
Reddy is also not confident in the two municipalities getting their act right any time soon, saying the same leadership that has been failing them is still at the helm.
However, she said the appointment of Dr Mike Sutcliffe as a “governance expert” to support the dysfunctional Msunduzi municipality bodes well.
Maphumulo confirmed to TimesLIVE Premium the three municipalities are the only ones in the province undergoing these restrictions.
Wisane Mavasa, department of water & sanitation spokesperson, confirmed that no other water supply systems in the country are under restrictions.
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