EThekwini residents face risk of water diseases
RESIDENTS in KwaZulu-Natal’s eThekwini region face the risk of a potential outbreak in water-borne diseases after the recent floods destroyed major infrastructure, according to the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta).
Cogta MEC Sipho Hlomuka said due to damage caused during the floods, there’s a risk of contamination of water sources such as rivers, which supply water to many residents living along river banks in informal settlements.
Hlomuka was speaking during a virtual briefing yesterday to discuss the impact and way forward in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the flooding disaster.
“The infrastructure damages owing to recent torrential rains pose a risk of the contamination of water sources such as rivers. Most water resources (rivers) in eThekwini District have been found to have a significantly high percentage of water contaminants (mainly E.coli) due to raw sewer spillages owing to water treatment works infrastructure damage.”
He appealed to communities to exercise extreme caution when dealing with water from rivers.
Water-borne diseases include cholera, diarrhoea, typhoid, hepatitis and gastroenteritis.
Water supply in eThekwini has been impacted by the floods, with residents being without water and, in some cases, electricity for almost two weeks.
Umgeni Water confirmed that two aqueducts that supply raw water into the Durban water treatment plant had been damaged. This meant the supply into the city had to decrease to avoid a shortage. But Hlomuka said water supply had been slowly restored in most regions around the City.
The inner west region has improved from 30% to 85%. the outer west region from 45% to 70%, the central region from 45% to 80%, the southern region from 15% to 80% and the northern region from 40% to 45%.
In both the public and private sectors, R25billion in damages was caused by the flood.