Durban — The eThekwini Municipality has denied that its water and sewer infrastructure was the reason for the postponement of the rugby match between the Cell C Sharks and Ulster.
Over the weekend, there were suggestions that Durban’s sewerage crisis was the reasons for the postponement of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship match that was scheduled for Saturday.
In a statement, the municipality said it was disappointed with media coverage insinuating that the Ulster and Glasgow Warriors rugby teams fell ill because of having been exposed to Durban’s tap and seawater.
The municipality said the reports were devoid of any facts to support the assertions made.
It said the latest test results showed that there are no issues with the tap water quality in Durban.
It said that the official statement from the United Rugby Championship makes no mention of the cause of the illness being Durban’s water, so media reports are being based on malicious and baseless rumours.
“There are no quality issues with tap water in uMhlanga where the teams stayed. If there were then many residents of uMhlanga would have fallen ill as well. This is not the case, so which Durban tap water did the teams, and only the teams, consume which would have made professional athletes fall sick, but not ordinary residents in uMhlanga?
“On the issue of swimming, the municipality has been transparent about which beaches are safe for swimming and which are not. It beggars belief that international rugby teams who are in the country for important fixtures would have swum on beaches that are closed for swimming. The teams and their management would have had to be extremely reckless to do this,” the municipality’s statement read.
The municipality said the negative reporting caused harm to the city, its tourism industry and those who relied on this sector for their livelihoods.
It was as irresponsible as it was dishonest, the municipality said.
The Sharks made an announcement on Friday afternoon, indicating that the match had been called off due to gastroenteritis infections in the Ulster Camp.
“This game has been called off by the URC due to gastroenteritis infections in the Ulster Camp,” The Sharks said.
Reacting to the announcement on Facebook, people said it was because of Durban’s sewerage crisis that the match was postponed.
Louis Joffe said the municipality was to blame for not sorting out the sewerage problem. Sportsmen were going to go home and tell the world about our shocking beach problems.
Michael Schefermann said: “Wonder if they went for a swim at one of our pristine beaches that are so exceptionally well maintained by eThekwini Municipality.”
Pappa Gaai said: “Do the math: Durban water is stuffed… ask the guys at Umgeni Water... They don’t go near anything that flows.”
Karl van Rooyen said that it was the stench of raw sewage in the air. Durban was stinking to high heaven since the floods.
Debbie Lammerding said: “They should have known better than to drink the water in Durban.”
Coming to the municipality’s defence, Wayne Scott Palmer, said: “There is nothing wrong with the eThekwini municipal water supply. Blaming it for a cause of a stomach bug is misguided and ignorant to how the municipal water supply system functions.”
Neil Raeburn said: “And there was me thinking that ‘the opposition are sh.. scared’ was just an expression!”
Gert Jordaan questioned whether Ulster was scared to face a Bok-laden Sharks team so they want to play at a later stage when all our Boks are away on a year-end tour.
Daniel Courtiade said: “They actually s***t themselves the night before playing the Sharks and then decided to bail…you can’t make this stuff up…”
Daily News