Communities hit by Saturday night’s floods have been dealt another blow – they have no running water.
Don Perumall, the chairperson of the Tongaat Civic Association, said over 60 000 residents have been impacted by the water outage.
“The source of our water comes from the point at which the Emona and Tongaat rivers meet. There is a furrow, a u-shaped brick structure, that channels the water from the river into Tongaat Water Works where it is purified. The water is then pumped into homes.”
Perumall said after the heavy rain, the furrow became blocked with rubble and debris.
“This has restricted the water supply. At one stage, we were getting slow to medium levels of water and now none. Teams from Tongaat Hulett and the eThekwini Municipality have been trying unsuccessfully to remove the rubble.”
He said in addition, pipes that provide water to the Tongaat south area and the CBD had been washed away.
“We had municipal tankers come out on Monday after 9pm. Venk-Pac has been assisting us and other non-profit organisations. The reality is that Tongaat has no other source of water. In addition, the floods have damaged our roads and sports fields. This is worse than the April 2022 floods,” he added.
Selvan Govender, secretary of the Phoenix Civic Movement (PCM), said the storm was a flashback to 2022 when the rain tore down their ailing water infrastructure.
“We have been on the back foot with water supply since then. In the wake of this new phenomenon of water outages, it seems like the municipality itself does not have adequate resources, including water tankers. Our water supply is also not the healthiest. Our basic human right to clean drinking water is being violated. The city’s response is ‘we are doing the best we can’,” he said.
Govender said the community recently received 30 tons of 5-litre water bottles from Aquelle.
“It is through their generosity, as well as members of the Phoenix community, and religious institutes that the residents have drinking water. Who would have thought that water in South Africa would become such a scarcity? Drinking water is becoming more and more inaccessible for households that are already on a shoestring budget.
“Sadly, the problem of water outages is far from over, and we must start thinking outside the box. We are calling on anyone who can supply drinking water, either free or at cost, to have a conversation with us. We are trying our best to navigate through one of our greatest crisis.”
Roshan Lil-Ruthan, spokesman for the Verulam Water Crisis Committee, said they did not have a drop of water in their taps.
Even large areas like Waterloo had collapsed water infrastructure, he said.
“More than 100 000 residents in Waterloo alone have been impacted. The Mountview system has also suffered catastrophic damage from the storm. There’s no water at all for five straight days,” he said.
“The existing infrastructure, which has lacked maintenance for several years, has now been paralysed by the storm damage. We have had major infrastructure breaches. A pipeline feeding Mountview from Phoenix collapsed as the valves were damaged. The Hazelmere treatment plants also cannot supply water as their turbidity levels have worsened.”
Lil-Ruthan said many residents were collecting rainwater, some buying water, and the rest praying for a tanker allocation.
“However, the 30 tankers allocated by the city are insignificant and insufficient. The filling point for the tankers have run dry. Tankers are driving to Durban to refill and return. Ottawa and Canelands filling points have also collapsed with no water.
“Private individuals are helping our communities. We have several people and companies like Venk-Pac, Phoenix Cash and Carry, Aquelle and other key volunteers who are tirelessly serving our people. But they are taking strain due to the immense demand. At this point many are not receiving assistance,” he said.
Lil-Ruthan said they had approached various stakeholders in national and local government, but have not received any assistance.
Councillor Krsna Sing, the DA caucus leader in the Ilembe District Municipality, said more than 100 homes were affected by the floods.
“KwaDukuza has been hard hit. The main cause of the flooding appears to be that the storm water drainage was not maintained on a regular basis by the local municipality. You have verges growing on the side of the roads and on the tar causing the water to deviate into homes.”
He said most of the roads and bridges that were recently repaired through the flood relief grant had again been damaged and washed away.
“Some could be attributed to the poor quality of repairs. The cost of damages to infrastructure could run into over R100 million. The slow process in undertaking repairs is also of concern. Both the Ilembe District Municipality and the KwaDukuza Municipality must have a clear master plan to deal with sewer and stormwater issues.”
Gugu Sisilana, the spokesperson for the municipality, said the recent heavy rains damaged water infrastructure and bulk pipelines and this resulted in the interruption of water supply in Tongaat.
"The teams from eThekwini Water and Sanitation are on the ground removing debris on the furrow and so far, the flow to Tongaat Water Works has improved by approximately 30%. The removal of debris is not complete as there are access challenges to the site that require this work to be done manually, including restricted access to sites where water infrastructure is allocated due to damaged roads."
She said the Tongaat Water Works was currently pumping water to Mamba Ridge and Hambanathi reservoirs intermittently.
"Assessment of the two bulk pipelines that conveys water to Tongaat South and Metcalf reservoirs is underway."
She said communities would continue to be supplied with water tankers until repairs were complete and the supply of water was fully restored.
"We appeal to communities to work with their ward councillors and appeal to residents to be patient because the water tankers are overstretched. It is not only Tongaat residents that are affected, but there are many other communities in the south of Durban that are without water. In total, the city has about 100 water tankers, but in a disaster situation this number will never be enough. The storm damage has further exacerbated the water scarcity challenges."
She said 30 water tankers had been allocated to the north of Durban and the distribution of water to affected communities would be coordinated through ward councillors.
“Static water tankers will also be periodically filled by water tankers and will be located at strategic points within the affected zones in collaboration with ward councillors.”
Nonala Ndlovu, the head of communications for the KZN Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, said the most significant damages have been reported in the eThekwini Metro, KwaDukuza and Ndwedwe Local Municipalities.
“At this stage, five fatalities have been confirmed under eThekwini Metro, while two people have been reported missing.”
Ndlovu said the heavy rains have caused damage to water and electricity infrastructure, leaving some communities in eThekwini and Stanger without water and electricity.