The Ugu municipality says it is working around the clock to restore a full supply of water to parts of the KwaZulu-Natal south coast severely affected by shortages.
The Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (Fedhasa) raised the alarm “about how this dire situation severely affects tourism in the region” on Tuesday.
Fedhasa chair Rosemary Anderson said the tourism industry, a vital economic driver for the region, is in peril and the future looks bleak without swift intervention by national government.
She said residents have reported water shortages over the past 18 months “with only 107 of 255 days having access to water (between December 10 2021 and August 22 2022)”, which the municipality has disputed.
“The municipality denounces the narrative by Fedhasa that the entire south coast has had no access to water supply in the past 18 months,” said municipal spokesperson France Zama.
“While the statement is untrue, the municipality is aware of intermittent supply challenges in the areas of Pumula and Hibberdene due to major burst pipes to reservoirs supplying these areas as a result ageing infrastructure.”
Ugu municipality working on KZN south coast water crisis
Image: via Facebook
The Ugu municipality says it is working around the clock to restore a full supply of water to parts of the KwaZulu-Natal south coast severely affected by shortages.
The Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (Fedhasa) raised the alarm “about how this dire situation severely affects tourism in the region” on Tuesday.
Fedhasa chair Rosemary Anderson said the tourism industry, a vital economic driver for the region, is in peril and the future looks bleak without swift intervention by national government.
She said residents have reported water shortages over the past 18 months “with only 107 of 255 days having access to water (between December 10 2021 and August 22 2022)”, which the municipality has disputed.
“The municipality denounces the narrative by Fedhasa that the entire south coast has had no access to water supply in the past 18 months,” said municipal spokesperson France Zama.
“While the statement is untrue, the municipality is aware of intermittent supply challenges in the areas of Pumula and Hibberdene due to major burst pipes to reservoirs supplying these areas as a result ageing infrastructure.”
Eskom, broken infrastructure blamed for KZN south coast water outages
Zama said static tanks are being replenished daily “as an interim measure while the municipality is working around the clock to fast-track the restoration process to ensure supply is fully restored”.
He said the municipality — with the support of water and sanitation minister Senzo Mchunu — is implementing turnaround plans and projects to improve water supply to affected communities.
“The projects include the emergency borehole programme with more than 20 boreholes already pumping clean drinking water to communities, pipeline replacement in area south central [which includes Hibberdene/Pumula] and area north, as well as the refurbishment of sanitation in Harding and business plans to upgrade [the] KwaMadlala water pipeline, Dunjazana water pipeline, as well as refurbishment of electrical and mechanical infrastructure and refurbishment of bulk meter and valve chambers.
“A tight monitoring schedule is being implemented with regular site visits to ensure supply is improved.”
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