Illegal housing robs residents of piped water
THREE years have passed but the eThekwini Municipality has still not restored piped water to residents at Tea Estate in Inanda.
While two 5 000-litre JoJo tanks were installed last year, the water is not sufficient to service the community.
Devraj Moonsammy, 54, lives with his wife, three sons and two grandchildren. He said the storage tanks were filled on a Monday or a Tuesday.
“When the tanks are empty, we have to either buy water or do without until it’s replenished. But we don’t want these storage tanks. We need running water in our homes. It seems that installing these tanks is an easy way out for the municipality from addressing the real issue.”
He said it was risky for people to collect water early in the morning or at night.
“There are also many elderly people who carry buckets of water to their homes when there is no one to help them. I have called and emailed the municipality for answers, but there is no response.”
Koopmoonsamy Govender, 79, and his wife, Marriamah, 75, have lived in Tea Estate for 45 years.
Their daughter, Sabashni Moodley, said: “It breaks my heart to see my parents go through this in their old age. They pay a helper to collect water but when the person is unavailable, they have to do it themselves.
“My parents must also carry boiled water from the stove top to the bathroom as they cannot use the geyser. It is not safe. Each time they use the toilet, they have to lift the ceramic lid and fill the cistern system.
“I have told them to sell their home and live with me but they want to be independent. They also don’t want to give up on their little vegetable farm on their property.
“Over three years, I have emailed city officials to intervene. I am either ignored or told they will get back to me.”
Yogis Govender, a DA member of the city’s executive committee, said: “The issue here and for many areas is the fast-tracking of capital projects, like upgrading reservoirs and the water network.
“I have taken up the plight as an exco member to put pressure on officials to revisit the project. Until the relevant officials prioritise this matter and find a budget for it, the water will be coming more from tankers than from a tap.
“I have requested tankers and more static tanks but that should not be a way of life.”
Mswakhe Mayisela, the spokesperson for the municipality, said Tea Estate as well as Buffelsdraai, Hilltop and Valleyview were supplied from the Trenance 3 elevated water tower. He said the tower had a capacity of 67 kilolitres and it had reached its design capacity to service such large areas.
“In order to address this, an upgrade project to increase storage of both the Trenance 3 Reservoir and the elevated tank has been initiated. The planning phase has been completed and this project is now in the design phase.”
Mayisela said a large illegal housing development infill had connected directly onto the Trenance 3 elevated tower supply zone. Infill developments are the building of more properties within unused and underutilised lands within an existing development.
“This infill housing development is situated just before Tea Estate and hence Tea Estate is frequently without water supply as the system was not designed to accommodate this demand. The upgrade project will provide greater water storage to alleviate the problem and this will be completed in the medium term.”
Mayisela said the water supply problems were further compounded by the city’s bulk water service provider – which had experienced issues at the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant.
“The remedial construction and upgrades have been problematic and are currently scheduled for completion in December 2022.
“Unfortunately, there is no quick-fix solution to enable consumers to obtain permanent uninterrupted water supply due to the challenges mentioned above. This will have to be resolved via the medium to long term project planned for this area."
Mayisela said in the short-term, scheduled water tankers had been requested for Tea Estate.
“This is in addition to the static JoJo tanks that have been placed strategically in the Tea Estate area for consumers to obtain water supply.”