Residents in the northern areas will have to wait another week for their water to be restored after the eThekwini Municipality announced today that the repairs would not be completed tomorrow.
Senzo Mchunu, Minister of Water and Sanitation, met with the residents of Verulam, uThongathi and Phoenix on Sunday, following protests by the communities over constant water supply challenges.
He promised community leaders and residents that water would be restored by Thursday.
But earlier today (Wednesday), Musa Mbhele, the city manager, announced at a press conference at the ICC, that modification work was required. This, he said, was not foreseen - when the work was planned to be completed.
“The modification or fabrication work is underway and is planned to be completed by February 21. Our technical teams have been hard at work to resolve the water interruptions and regular monitoring meetings have been held to assess the progress.
"We sincerely apologise to the affected residents, who are still without water supply. Progress with interventions on the northern aqueduct was planned to be completed by February 15.
"To address the water supply disruptions that have occurred in the northern parts of eThekwini, the municipality has been implementing various interventions to improve the performance of the old northern aqueduct, including reducing leaks and replacing defective air valves, which were supposed to be completed by the 15th."
He added: “Due to the modification work required for these valves, it is necessary to isolate portions of the pipeline for the new valves to be installed. In order for this to not result in additional supply interruptions, the installation of these six air valves is also being timed to coincide with the commissioning of the relevant portion of the new aqueduct, so that water can continue to be supplied to communities. This work is planned to be completed by the end of February 2024."
According to Mbhele, the completion of the replacement of 31 valves has improved, but it has not yet fully-resolved water supply to most parts of Phoenix, Mount Edgecombe, Virginia, Umhlanga and Durban North.
“When the remaining six air valves are installed, the water supply to the remaining parts of these areas should be fully restored.
“On the section from Phoenix to Verulam (Mount View Reservoir), there are 25 valves which have all been serviced. This fourth section is ready to receive additional water from the third section once the work on that section is complete.
“The commissioning of the first phase of the new aqueduct is now due to be completed by the end of February 2024. This is being timed to coincide with the completion of the remaining six valves on the third section of the old aqueduct to ensure continuity of supply,” Mbhele added.
The municipality has recently dedicated staff to continually inspect the old northern aqueduct to identify leaks and defective and vandalised valves to ensure interruptions are minimised.
Roshan Lil-Ruthan, spokesperson for the Verulam Water Crisis Committee, said: “The minister must be tremendously embarrassed by the turn of events, and we question if the events were specifically designed to undermine him personally, and put him in a bad spot with our communities.
“We are deeply disappointed to learn that the deadline for the return of water to our community will not materialise. The fact that the municipality apologised to the affected residents shows a clear lack of understanding of the hardships faced by the community, but this apology does not alleviate the immediate and ongoing water crisis. It actually is an insult.”
He added that the committee believed that a lack of coordination and communication within the municipality was evident in the delays and ongoing water supply challenges.
“While we understand that acts of vandalism and sabotage pose a risk to the water infrastructure, we urge the municipality to take stronger measures to prevent and address these issues.
"Increasing monitoring is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to protect the infrastructure that is crucial to the provision of water.
“The residents have endured prolonged suffering without water, and it is imperative that the municipality fulfills its commitment to restoring water supply as a matter of urgency.
“The minister must immediately take over all these functions and restore stability, and fulfill his promise. We cannot have the Department of Water and Sanitation working separately from the municipality. Mchunu must take over this process immediately. We have no trust or faith in the municipality,” Lil-Ruthan said.
Pastor Mervin Reddy, the public relations officer of the Voice of Phoenix (VOP), said: "I am not surprised. We knew from day one that eThekwini Municipality and Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda were lying to the people of Phoenix in terms of the deadlines.
"They are taking the community for granted, and taking us for fools. We need competent officials to undertake the rollout to ensure that the water supply is normalised and people receive a continuous supply of water to their taps.
“We must not hang around like pawpaws from trees, waiting for them to give us answers regarding this. As the VOP, we take this as an indictment from the municipality for constantly shifting the goalpost, from January 28 to February 15 and now presumably February 14 to the end of February to early March.