Spotlight on poor access to water in KZN

Reading Time: 4 minutes

The poor access to water in KwaZulu-Natal came under the spotlight in September, with the release of a damning report by the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).

The commission concluded that municipalities and water service authorities have violated the rights of residents to access clean drinking water as is provided for in international, constitutional and statutory provisions.

The report was based on a five-day provincial inquiry in 2022.

The commission said the inquiry followed after more than 600 complaints were received from residents in the province since 2020.
The complaints included: no access to water, no water for days, a lack of alternative measures and inconsistent supply.

“We are worried here because if you look around you there are old age homes. Here these people are suffering because they don’t have assistance, they carry water themselves. They put jojo tanks but those tanks are not refilled now they close the water again,” says Surie Singh a resident.

Other issues raised included poor water quality, and polluted water.

“Looking at the time they clean water every day I can say there is a problem with water. For me, I buy or boil water before use or I will call the company that provides us with purified water,” says Hambanathi resident Gugu Ncube.

The commission was scathing in its assessment of the relevant government authorities. It said the national, and the provincial government and legislature had failed to ensure that municipalities and water service authorities, do not violate the right of residents in the province to access clean drinking water.

Philile Ntuli a commissioner at SAHRC explains:

“This violation of rights is aggravated by the pervasive sense of neglect, disgrard, and in some instances contempt for people’s suffering and their attempts to engage with their municipality through officials and elected representatives. The extent of the challenges in access to water and the rights violations experienced by communities evidenced by complaints tabled by residents and communities across the province of KwaZulu-Natal is profound and indicative of systematic failures in water provisioning and the violation of multiple human rights.”

KZN municipalities given ultimatum to rectify water crisis: SAHRC 19 September 2023:

Challenges

The commission accepted that there were challenges such as old apartheid-era spatial planning. But it still found that municipalities and water service authorities, were guilty of poor planning and management of resources, and of being reluctant to deal with corruption and non-performance.

The commission said it was unacceptable that the state failed, after 29 years, to transform the colonial and apartheid-era spatial planning to benefit previously disadvantaged communities.

Number of recommendations

It made a number of recommendations which it wanted implemented within a year. The commission said the national water and sanitation department should monitor the implementation of the Blue and Green drop report findings, which certify excellent drinking water and wastewater quality management in the country.

And recommended that the provincial government department of cooperative governance review its funding model for municipalities and consider a special grant for upgrades of water infrastructure.

It further said that the department should declare a state of disaster in municipalities when needed, to immediately restore water provision. It also recommended that the relevant portfolio committee in the provincial legislature should perform oversight and ensure the implementation of the measures.

The water boards were advised to take urgent steps to address the ageing infrastructure to prevent a collapse of the systems and to do this within a year.

The water service authorities in municipalities such as Newcastle, Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Ladysmith should implement customer care services to receive complaints. They should also address the emerging corruption related to the water tankering system and should undertake studies to consider buying tankers as opposed to outsourcing the service.

But the commission emphasised that tankers should just be an emergency measure and that permanent solutions to water provision should be implemented.

The commission said it was collaborating with Wits University on a water tracking initiative that will help monitor the country’s progress towards access to clean drinking water.

It recommended that all the entities provide detailed reports of the measures implemented within a year and further issue regular annual reports.

Reflecting on KZN water woes: