‘DIFFERENT WAY OF LIFE’ FOR DURBANITES

Thu 03 October 2024:

Residents of Durban will have to adapt to a “different way of life” when water restrictions kick in next week. The eThekwini Municipality will implement restrictions in a bid to reduce water consumption.

Asad Gaffar, chairperson of the eThekwini Ratepayers Movement, told Newzroom Afrika the latest move showed that the city was poorly led.

“This again demonstrates the poor leadership from eThekwini, because you actually want to reduce the consumption of the paying consumer. How are you then going to pay for the remainder of the water which you’re not getting any revenue from?”

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Last year, eThekwini’s “non-revenue water” losses amounted to 56%. In other words, more than half the city’s water revenue is lost to leaking municipal pipes, non-payment or theft.

Now, the national government wants the municipality to cut its water consumption by 8.4% (or 118 Ml/day) over the next 12 months. Spelling out the implications of this for ordinary residents, Gaffar said:

“People won’t be able to cook, they won’t be able to bathe. Your complete standard of living is going to be affected. It’s imposing a different way of life, unnecessarily, because it speaks to the poor leadership of the city,” he said.

Meanwhile, Durban Mayor Cyril Xaba said: “We did everything in our power to avert this situation by writing to the department requesting the postponement of the curtailment while we implement measures to save water, including non-revenue water. However, we are at the stage where the ultimate goal is to avert a situation where water supply gets depleted from the source.”