A high ranking municipal official at the Ugu District Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal has bemoaned that a key position in the water department remained vacant despite growing concerns regarding the provision of water and service delivery in the region.
This was highlighted at the South African Local Government Association (Salga) conference in Durban on Thursday by Ugu District chief financial officer Kushi Audan.
Salga gave each municipality within KZN a chance to present the state of affairs relating to service delivery during the conference.
Ugu’s acting municipal manager Vela Mazibuko presented the district’s statistics, which showed that there was also a 31% backlog in access to sanitation.
This means 31% of residents in the district have inappropriate sanitation or no sanitation.
Mazibuko presented the findings about key positions vacant in the district, one of which was the general manager position in the water department.
Following his presentation, IOL asked Audan about when the position is likely to be filled.
“We expect the position to be filled within the next three months. The recruitment process have been finalised and we are just awaiting the final steps before we can find a suitable candidate for that department,” the CFO told IOL.
The Ugu District was the subject of discussion in the South African Human Rights Commission’s “KZN Water Inquiry” report, which was released in September, following an investigation into the state of water in the province.
The SAHRC said that Ugu, among other municipalities in KZN, violated the rights of residents by failing to provide access to clean drinking water. A large part of the district remains rural.
“In Ugu, there are allegations that the district municipality does not have the management, know-how and capability to provide a constant daily supply to residents. Sewage facilities were also cited as a problem leading to major health issue.
“Water interruptions continue for weeks at a time and are attributed to the reservoir being low, breakages at the plant, air in the system, and as a result of the infrastructure collapsing.
“Ramsgate only accounted for 24 complaints ranging from water interruptions to no water for extended periods of time, and in one instance, 103 days of no water. Southbroom residents reported water interruptions, as did Sunwich Port residents, over the past five years, with challenges in water supply and infrastructure collapse accounting for these failures.
One particular statement made by the SAHRC which stirred controversy, was that in Port Shepstone, there was no evidence of maintenance on water infrastructure in Port Shepstone for more than two decades.
But this claim was refuted by civil engineer Tarell Krishna who said this was not entirely true and that many small upgrades have been done over the years, with large projects in the pipeline.
“The municipality has just replaced around 40 to 50 main valves and valve chambers in the south and northern area to the value of around R30 million.
“There has been a pipeline replacement in several streets in the Shelly Beach and Margate area over the past three months,” Krishna said.
Leon Gabarde, ward 12 councillor in the Ray Nkonyeni Municipality, which falls under Ugu, said the system was broken and incapable of meeting the rising demand.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was aware of the water challenges in Ugu.
Based on statements made by engineers in the area, the Ugu water system does not work like most, as they extract water from the Umzimkulu River, process it at Bhobhoyi water treatment plant and then distribute throughout its network.
It is understood that the amount being extracted is not able to meet the demand but plans are afoot to develop the extraction point, which is situated at St Helens Rock.
IOL