Durban — Water supply disruptions in eThekwini needed to be thoroughly investigated as there was an element of sabotage about it, a local politician has claimed.
ANC Provincial Legislature Member Lusiwe Ngubane has called for the police to investigate why the municipality has been unsuccessful in providing water to eThekwini residents.
Ngubane was speaking at the debate of the State Of the Province Address this week. The MPL used the sitting to question the frequency of water supply cuts, saying the municipality was doing everything possible to ensure residents in northern Durban had access to water.
Ngubane said it was concerning that some communities were not receiving water despite municipal efforts, adding that it was about time police intervened to determine whether there was any foul play in water supply disruptions.
“We call on Police Minister (Bheki Cele) to deploy the National Intervention Unit and Crime Intelligence to determine whether there is any criminality involved,” she said.
Ngubane added that instances of constant gunfire from water supply sources suggested the involvement of criminals. “As the ANC, we condemn any form of criminality,” she said.
This week the municipality announced that technical teams from the city’s water and sanitation unit worked through the night to install new air valves on a section of the Northern Aqueduct Pipeline to ensure water supply.
This resulted in many areas on Tuesday and Wednesday not having water.
In the statement, the municipality indicated that it had installed more than 70 air valves at the cost of around R7 million as part of replacement programme to improve the efficiency of water flow and to increase pressure within the Northern Aqueduct.
“The City remains committed to improving water supply to affected communities, and various interventions will continue to be explored as we are not out of the woods yet. Other interventions include the use of technology to detect leaks, with this process already under way, as well as the installation of pressure logging equipment,” read the statement.
Reacting to the call for SAPS intervention, Westville Ratepayers Association Chairperson Asad Gaffar said while they had heard rumours of a “water mafia”, there had been no evidence of such and the call for the police sounded premature.
“If people can present some form of evidence suggesting sabotage in the water supply, then we would welcome the intervention of the police, but in the absence of anything tangible this sounds more like a rumour than anything else,” he said.
Gaffar said the water supply problems were due to the City’s neglect of infrastructure over the years.
In recent weeks there has been an outcry from many communities, while business forums have warned about how the problem would also affect the city’s economy, pointing to a number of businesses located in the northern areas affected by water supply.
Sunday Tribune