Three years after the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) found that eThekwini Municipality was in violation of the right to access clean drinking water, many residents continue to face significant challenges.

In its 2022 KZN Water Inquiry report into the province’s municipalities and water authorities, including eThekwini Municipality, the SAHRC found that there were “systemic failures in water provisioning, and the violation of multiple human rights”.

Pavershree Padayachee, SAHRC provincial manager, said that eThekwini Municipality has started several projects and other mechanisms to address water access issues since the inquiry.

According to reports, in January 2024 Verulam residents in Trenance Park were without water for almost 100 days.

Persistent Challenges: Residents Still Struggling for Access

The Commission began participating in war room meetings in late January 2024, where there were numerous ongoing challenges.

Padayachee stated that the Commission had discussed water accessibility issues with stakeholders, including Provincial and National Government.

“Towards November 2024, the Commission as well as affected communities noticed improvements to their challenges. However, over the festive season, challenges with access to water continued, with residents experiencing difficulties in accessing water via water tankers.

“As of January 2025, the Commission finds that the water crisis still persists, with the Commission remaining actively involved in various war room meetings,” said Padayachee.

Many areas in both the north and south of Durban remain a concern, some of which include Inanda, KwaMashu, Waterloo, and Engonyameni, among others, she stated.

Padayachee said it is important to acknowledge that the City has made significant attempts to improve and/or resolve the challenges with access to water in the Metro.

“It is, however, apparent the situation persists and, in fact, has regressed. This is evidenced by the ongoing concerns that are raised by affected communities in the weekly and bi-weekly war room meetings,” she said.

She said going into the 2025 financial year, the situation persists and has worsened.

“Despite projects like the commissioning of the Northern Aqueduct, which was expected to bring much relief to communities, this has not yet materialised. As such, the Commission has been receiving an increased number of complaints from frustrated residents due to the lengthy periods that they are left without water.”

The SAHRC has been engaging with the municipality regarding the various complaints received.

“Some have included the lack of interim measures at schools and clinics that have been left without water,” said Padayachee, adding that the Commission has ensured that suitable measures are in place to provide access to water in such instances.

Padayachee said that the City’s interim measures of providing water via water tankers or “JoJo tanks” are clearly inadequate for the affected communities.

According to Padayachee, transparency and poor communication to residents remain a key concern, which heightens the existing tensions within the affected communities. “Call centres remain inadequately resourced to service consumers".

More needs to be done to arrest this ongoing challenge with water, she stated.

Voices from the Ground: Residents Share Their Struggles

The Commission’s Water Inquiry Report recommended that eThekwini and other districts implement customer care divisions with call centres to manage complaints about water service delivery. These call centres should log complaints, ensure a six-hour turnaround time to restore water, and track complaint resolution.

The SAHRC has been monitoring how Water Services Authorities in different districts are implementing its recommendations, according to Padayachee.

“The SAHRC has noted with concern that most Water Service Authorities/Districts have not yet even commenced to implement any of the Commission’s recommendations, which ultimately continues to violate the rights of the most vulnerable and impoverished communities from being able to access water,” she stated.

Ottawa resident Andisha Maharaj said the water supply issue started years prior to the 2022 inquiry and has, in fact, worsened since.

Recalling the most recent incident, Maharaj said the water returned at 6am on Wednesday morning just as she was leaving to travel to work.

“Our problem has not improved, and our representations to the Human Rights Commission did not make any difference. We continue having water outages on a daily basis, and it is so erratic that we never know when the water is going off and what time it will return,” she said..

Maharaj said although the Human Rights Commission has identified the problem, it has not done its work.

She questioned what the SAHRC’s remedial actions are for these human rights violations. “They're not interested in the people down here, and yet our human rights are being violated on a daily basis. Everyone is turning a blind eye to it. You write to the government, you never get a response.”

Municipal Efforts: Actions Taken and Obstacles Faced

Councillor Yogis Govender, who is a member of the municipality’s executive council and a resident of oThongathi, which is one of the areas affected, agreed that since the inquiry, there have been some efforts by the City to address the water crisis with turnaround strategies and water restrictions.

However, Govender said the municipality does not have the budget required to solve the crisis anytime soon.

She said the City has implemented very few measures to reduce water losses, but some of the changes the municipality has touted include repairing leaks and upgrading infrastructure, as well as the establishment of working groups and a task team.

However, she said despite these efforts, the municipality still struggles with high levels of water losses due to aging infrastructure, theft, and other factors.

Govender said the City also struggles with inconsistent water supply, with many residents experiencing frequent interruptions to their water services and poor water quality, with some areas reporting high levels of contamination.

Some of the areas that have been reported to be most affected include oThongathi, Amanzimtoti, Chatsworth, Verulam, Durban North, Phoenix, KwaMashu, Umkomaas, and uMhlanga, which are impacted daily if not weekly, she said, adding that “There are protests every month in some areas.”

She said in order to resolve the water crisis in eThekwini, it is necessary to address the root causes of water loss.

“The municipality needs to take urgent action to address the high levels of water losses due to aging infrastructure, theft, and other factors,” she said.

In the long run, Govender said that eThekwini Municipality needs a comprehensive water plan to address water losses, upgrade infrastructure, and improve water quality.

Governance and accountability need to be improved, including increasing transparency and public participation in decision-making processes, she added.

“Increase their in-house capacity for plumbers and skilled staff and have in-house tankers to prevent monopoly by contractors,” suggested Govender.

Community Advocacy: Progress Amidst Ongoing Issues

Verulam Water Crisis Committee (VWCC) spokesperson Roshan Lil-Ruthan said that after the inquiry, KwaZulu-Natal witnessed notable strides in addressing water supply challenges.

Lil-Ruthan noted infrastructure improvements, including the upgrade of the Hazelmere Water Treatment Works, have been initiated to enhance water availability.

He said community advocacy groups, like the VWCC, have played a pivotal role in driving change and holding municipalities and the Umngeni-Uthukela accountable.

“One of the VWCC's key achievements has been securing the connection of water from the Hazelmere Water Treatment Works to the Grange Reservoir and subsequently to the Mount View Reservoir. This has provided much-needed supplementation to the Northern Aqueduct system, which has struggled to meet demand from Durban Heights,” he said.

However, Lil-Ruthan said despite these advancements, many areas, including eThekwini Municipality and rural communities, continue to face inconsistent water supply and aging infrastructure issues.

He said emergency measures, such as water tankers, have provided temporary relief but come at a significant cost to ratepayers. “Alarmingly, the SAHRC has identified the existence of a ‘water tanker mafia’ operating in eThekwini, exacerbating the crisis.”

According to Lil-Ruthan, immediate actions must focus on providing emergency relief to affected communities, repairing and upgrading aging infrastructure, and fostering transparent communication between municipalities and residents.

“In the long term, significant investment in sustainable infrastructure projects, such as the Lower uMkhomazi Bulk Water Supply Scheme, and stringent policy enforcement are critical to ensuring reliable access to clean water for all residents,” he said.

EThekwini Municipality was approached for comment but did not respond at the time of publication.