Durban — Angry Amaoti Ward 53 residents barricaded roads and burnt tyres during a protest over water issues.
The community members said they felt neglected by eThekwini after they had been “without water for two years”.
They claimed that their anger was worsened by the fact that other sections in Amaoti had water and they felt left out.
Khumbulani Gumede, a resident, said pipes were available but the water was somehow closed.
“This is tender-inspired because we know that water is available, and the reason for the closure was because they wanted to give us water tankers so that it can keep giving them money,” Gumede claimed.
Gumede said it was hard seeing an older person being forced to walk distances to fetch water from the tankers.
The residents also claimed that the water from the tankers was “dirty, horrible to drink and made them sick”.
Siziphiwe Mzotha said her 2-year-old son had to spend a week in hospital with kidney trouble, partly because of the “unclean” water, she claimed.
“My child has not fully recovered from the ordeal. And to add to that, he now has blisters all over his body because of the water that we use to drink and bath.
“Our hygiene is not being taken into consideration and it is sad,” she said.
She added that water tankers sometimes did not deliver water for a week, forcing them to fork out money to source water.
Mzotha also claimed that the issue of water tankers had caused divisions among community members as they usually “fight to get water first” when the tankers arrive.
She added that this had led to some residents stealing each others’ buckets, thus causing fights. The residents also said the water gave them runny stomachs.
Ward 53 councillor Nongceba Tshelinzima apologised to the community and said she did not know that the water in the tankers was giving them “so many problems”.
“I acknowledge the fact that the residents are voicing out their concerns and we are going to work harder in making sure that the issue is resolved.
“We have been up and down trying to find a solution and we are hopeful that it will soon be sorted,” said Tshelinzima.
She urged the residents to be patient while she tried to fix the problems. She said she had been in office for only a year.
Municipal spokesperson Musawakhe Mayisela said they understood the residents’ frustrations, but appealed to them to refrain from embarking on service delivery protests.
He said the water crisis was due to the inadequate water supply from uMngeni Water which was caused by infrastructure challenges.
“We are optimistic that soon they are going to resolve their challenges and they are going to have enough water for everyone in the city once they are done fixing their infrastructure,” said Mayisela.
Daily News