South African public order police officers had their hands full after frustrated residents took to the streets in Phoenix and Verulum in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) over the worsening, ongoing water crisis. Residents have had no water since October.
KZN is a popular tourist destination after Cape Town and is known as the kingdom of the isiZulu population. It is also home to one of the world’s largest Indian immigrant populations.
Bitter and irate community members are at their wits because they’ve been without running water for over 100 days.
Residents are adamant that police are being heavy-handed and quick to resort to violence despite the peaceful nature of the protests.
Videos showing clashes between community members and police have been posted on social media.
Watch: South African police clash with residents
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Residents also blocked main roads in the densely populated suburbs, forcing motorists to find alternative routes.
Local water authorities at eThekweni Municipality acknowledged that many residents had been experiencing increasingly frequent and lengthy interruptions to their water supply.
A recent statement from South Africa’s Water and Sanitation Department stated that demand for treated water in the busy metro, eThekwini, surpasses the available supply, leading to shortages.
It also listed that rapid population growth and increasing leaks in the municipality’s water distribution systems contributed to the rising demand for water.
Authorities said the province had been experiencing drastically changing and increasingly erratic weather. ” Drought conditions limit the amount of raw water that can be abstracted, affecting the treated water supply.
“The abstraction limit set by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) aims to ensure a continuous supply, even in droughts,” said the statement.
It additionally cited ageing infrastructure, encroachment of informal settlements on pipeline servitudes, illegal connections, and vandalism as challenges affecting the reliability of the water supply.
Authorities said there was also a high level of non-revenue water (water lost before it reaches consumers), which has increased from 37% in 2013 to 58% in 2023. This contributes to supply challenges.
South Africa’s ongoing energy crisis has substantially impacted the water supply to the affected areas, prompting the city to install standby generators at strategic pumping stations.
Also, due to changing weather, KZN has seen large-scale flooding in the summer in the past three years.
In 2021, the province experienced its most deadly floods, which ravaged water and sanitation infrastructure, leading to disruptions in water supply.
The local government’s attempts to placate communities have done little to ease residents’ frustrations, creating a perfect opportunity for opposition parties to garner support for the upcoming national general election.
Watch: South African main opposition party accuses governing party of ‘stealing’ water
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Durabn’s water crisis has laid bare South Africa’s profound inequality crisis, marked by stark disparities in wealth, education, and opportunities, reflecting the enduring legacies of historical injustices.
Wealthier community members were able to mitigate the disaster by buying garden water tanks, while others waited on government-issued water tankers to visit the area.
