Amid ongoing water supply disruptions across eThekwini, in KwaZulu-Natal, Water and Sanitation Minister Pemmy Majodina and Deputy Minister David Mahlobo convened an urgent meeting last week to delve into the challenges facing the municipality.

The meeting with eThekwini municipality mayor Councillor Cyril Xaba and uMngeni uThukela Water Board chairperson Advocate Vusi Khuzwayo unpacked the causes of the disruptions and several additional measures were proposed, in addition to currently under way mitigation programmes.

A joint statement from the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS), uMngeni-uThukela Water and the eThekwini metropolitan indicated that the root cause of the water supply disruptions is that demand is exceeding available treated water supply, owing to a combination of population growth and leaks in the municipality’s water distribution systems.

Reservoirs are being depleted faster than they can be refilled, impacting, in particular, high-lying areas and areas far from the reservoirs, as the low water levels mean that there is insufficient pressure to get water to these areas.

“This has been the main cause of water supply disruptions in Chatsworth, Umlazi and surrounding areas in the south, as well as Verulam, Tongaat and Ntuzuma in the north,” the parties said in the statement.

In addition, uMngeni uThukela Water had to shut down one of its pipelines last month to allow for the South African National Roads Agency to upgrade the N3 highway, which impacted water supply to Hillcrest and other areas in the outer west of the city.

However, this work is almost complete, and the pipeline is expected to come back into operation on February 27.

Meanwhile, uMngeni uThukela Water has been exceeding the raw water abstraction limit imposed by DWS, and consequently the department instructed the water board to curtail its abstraction in October 2024.

During the December holidays, when demand for water peaked in eThekwini, DWS temporarily lifted this curtailment directive, but it was reinstated again in mid-January 2025.

Further, various projects are underway to augment the amount of water in the uMngeni water supply system.

This includes the R820-million raising of the Hazelmere dam wall, which was completed in 2023, and has doubled the amount of water that can be stored in the dam, as well as the R135-million project to increase the capacity of the Hazelmere water treatment works, from 55-million litres a day to 75-million litres a day.

The capacity of the treatment work will be further increased to 90 megalitres a day within the next three years, at a cost of R25-million.

In addition, uMngeni uThukela Water is currently constructing a dam and a 100-million-litre treatment plant on the Lower uMkhomazi river.

Further, the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority is at an advanced stage of raising R28-billion for the construction of a large new dam and transfer tunnel on the upper uMkhomazi river, which is part of the uMkhomazi water project.

In line with this, uMngeni uThukela Water is in the process of procuring additional treatment capacity so that it will be able to treat and supply more water to eThekwini once the uMkhomazi water project is completed.

The eThekwini municipality is also working on its own measures to increase the supply of water.

“In addition to the existing water reuse plant currently being used by industries, which the city is implementing as a public-private partnership (PPP), the city is in the process of procuring two additional water reuse plants that will treat secondary effluent to produce potable water that meets the required water quality standards,” the parties said.

It is also planning to implement two seawater desalination projects. All these projects will also be implemented through public-private partnerships.

Several other major projects are being implemented to increase the resilience of the water distribution system to breakdowns and to enable the municipality to manage peaks in demand better with fewer water supply disruptions.

These include the R1.2-billion Southern Aqueduct upgrade, which is about 30% complete; the commissioning of the new Northern Aqueduct, which is 70% complete; and the R60-million upgrade of the Tongaat water treatment works, which will be starting this year.

The city is implementing many other projects, including the upgrading of pump stations and the installation of standby generators in Verulam.

The City Council also approved a water and sanitation turnaround strategy in April 2023, now under implementation, which includes ringfencing revenue from the sale of water for the water function, reduction of nonrevenue water, improving leak repair and disconnecting illegal connections.

“The backlog of water leaks requiring repair has been significantly reduced. The City is in the procurement stage of a PPP to mobilise private-sector funding and expertise to reduce nonrevenue water.”

The city is also in the process of issuing several city-funded contracts for nonrevenue water reduction and installing pressure management valves to reduce the water pressure in the water distribution system, which reduces the frequency of pipe bursts and extends the useful life of the infrastructure. It also reduces the amount of water lost through leaks in the system.

A programme to replace old leaking water distribution pipes is also being implemented.

The meeting agreed on additional measures to be implemented, including the City Council considering implementing formal water-use restrictions through by-laws.

In addition, owing to the recent rainfall and improvement in dam levels in the uMngeni water supply system, DWS will again temporarily lift the abstraction curtailment, effective immediately until April 23.

Weekly technical coordination meetings will continue among the city, uMngeni uThukela Water and DWS, and there will be weekly meetings among the mayor, the Minister and the uMngeni uThukela Water chairperson to review progress.

This work will be coordinated with the fortnightly meetings of the water and sanitation workstream meetings of the Presidential eThekwini Working Group.

The city and uMngeni uThukela Water will also improve their communications regarding water supply disruptions to residents, including the causes of the disruptions and what is being done about them.