DA’s water-saving proposal

THE DA in eThekwini says it has come up with a plan to deal with the city’s water issues.

The party yesterday announced its three-pronged water-saving proposal which revolves around the strategy of “using what we’ve got”, “saving what we’ve got” and “appreciating what we’ve got”.

Party members plan to hand over their proposal to eThekwini mayor Zandile Gumede soon.

DA leader Zwakele Mncwango said the party believed that the municipality was not tackling the issue.

“I don’t believe her (Gumede) office has a plan for the water crisis,” he said. In the auditor-general’s report, an estimated revenue loss of R710 million was attributed to water losses in the municipality.

DA councillor Martin Meyer, who sits on the housing and infrastructure committee which deals with water issues, said the water cuts could lead to more losses as pressure in the pipe system could lead to pipe bursts.

Meyer said the eThekwini municipality received relatively high rainfall when compared with other metros, and it was unacceptable that the city failed to find innovative ways to capture and store that water.

He said as part of its plan, the DA proposed that every new building have a rainwater collection system, and it would also look at the storm water system to save water.

The party recommended that water leak teams be deployed to informal settlements and for plumbers to be placed on 24 hours stand-by so that leaks could be repaired immediately.

Meyer added that the plan also called for punitive tariffs to be imposed on those who wasted water, and for water education in schools.

Gumede’s spokesperson, Mthunzi Gumede, said he would not be responding to the DA’s “attack”, as it was cheap politicking.