Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
03 September 2024 | 11:13 a.m. SAST
2-minute read

Residents in some northern suburbs in Durban have been without water for almost two weeks due to algal blooms which have blocked the water filtration system in the Durban Heights Treatment Works.

Nagle, Albert Falls and part of Inanda dams have been affected by the accumulation of algae which has compromised the water supply for the north of Durban.

“The last 12 days have been an absolute nightmare for the communities living in the north of Durban,” Roshan Lil-Ruthan, communications spokesperson and liaison for the Verulam Water Crisis Committee, said earlier today during an interview on Radio Islam International.

An initiative driven by the Verulam Water Crisis Committee to supply water to Verulam residents from Hazlemere Dam is in the final stages and is due to be completed within the next few days.

“I’m hoping that today we should start charging the line and doing a test to see if there’s no leaks on that line. And if that works, the people of Verulam will get running tap water daily from the Hazlemere Treatment Works,” Lili-Ruthan said.

Despite ongoing water shortages in the area that have affected residents for the past two years, some residents continue to receive exorbitant water bills.

Some Trenance Park residents, for instance, continued receiving water bills for thousands of rands despite having no water for almost 6 months.

“When we made inquiries with the management, they indicated that they would investigate this and revert. And then they started to threaten residents with disconnections,” Lil-Ruthan said.

Some of the high bills were due to air pressure in the system that continued to spin residents’ water meters.

One resident, a pensioner living alone, received a water bill for R1 020 000. Upon inquiry, she was told to pay the bill or face disconnection.

Lil-Ruthan expressed little confidence in the new provincial government’s ability to fix the problems facing communities in the area.

“The rot is there. The corruption is there. The inefficiency is there. The kleptocracy has gotten worse,” Lil-Ruthan said.

Thami Ntuli, the current Premier of KwaZulu-Natal, has ignored numerous requests to address the issues facing Verulam residents.