eThekwini Municipality City Manager Musa Mbhele said illegal water connections in informal settlements were setting a bad precedent, prejudicing paying customers in formal homes. 

Mbhele was speaking at an eThekwini Executive Committee (EXCO) meeting on Tuesday after a report on the status of water supply was discussed by the eThekwini Water and Sanitation (EWS) Unit. 

The report briefly mentioned the removal of illegal connections to a main trunk line at the sprawling Bottlebrush informal settlement in Chatsworth. The EWS said they had warned residents that connecting to the main water pipelines was dangerous because of the pressure in the system.

The residents from the informal settlement took to the streets in protest on Monday, blocking roads and stoning passing vehicles because they did not have water. 

The EWS has since placed three static tanks at the informal settlement, which they intend to fill up using water tankers, adding that they were also dealing with illegal connections in Nagina and KwaXimba. 

Yogis Govender, Democratic Alliance EXCO member, requested that more details on the municipality’s plan to eradicate illegal water connections at informal settlements be presented. 

“Illegal connections and water meter tampering are easily traceable to formal houses, and the residents are fined, have their meters removed, or charged criminally. This is the opposite of what is happening in the informal settlements, where illegal connections can be traced but nobody is prosecuted,” Govender said.

Mbhele stated that municipal officials have arrested several residents for illegally connecting their homes to the main pipelines.

Mbhele, on a personal account, said that while he was driving near King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi, he noticed an exorbitant amount of water flowing down a pathway near Q-Section. Together with officials, they traced the source of the leak. 

“We walked up to a house where a person had broken the water meter pipe, trying to make an illegal connection to the informal settlement. It flooded the formal houses in the vicinity,” he said. 

Mbhele said the person was arrested and charged. He called for the EWS to provide a progress report on this case and others opened in partnership with SAPS and law enforcement.

“The municipality has several interventions in place to enforce and stop illegal connections. People in formal houses are beginning to connect to the water pipeline illegally because of what is happening in the informal settlements, where people have it scot-free. If we do not move swiftly, we will lose those in the formal houses who are paying,” he said. 

The EWS stated that a Non-Revenue Water (NRW) Task team, incorporating all teams from the NRW Branch, including customer services and metering, was created for coordination. There was also a mobilisation of crack teams for targeted interventions. 

Previn Vedan, former Ward 71 Councillor, explained that on Tuesday, he joined ANC ward secretary Falakhe Mhlongo, engineers from EWS, and members of the Sukamuva community for a walkabout to address the issue. 

“Our priority was to act quickly to avoid further protest action, which often results in damage to infrastructure and disrupts livelihoods when residents cannot get to work. During the walkabout, we observed that some residents were accessing water directly from a high-pressure reservoir connection, an extremely dangerous practice that could result in injury or death,” he said.

Vedan said they also noted that JoJo tanks have been placed along the roadside to supply water to areas where pipes cannot yet be installed.

“Many residents are forced to walk long distances to access them. Residents who were using the unsafe reservoir connection agreed to stop doing so, ensuring their safety without affecting the water supply to nearby communities,” he explained. 

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za

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