It has been a year since the City adopted the Water and Sanitation Turnaround Strategy on 24 April 2023 and notable progress has been made since then. This strategy sought to improve the performance of the Water and Sanitation Unit and reposition it to be able to meet current and future water and sanitation demands for the City.

The implementation of the strategy is based on a set of strategic objectives that were developed by the City and supported by National Treasury’s City Support Programme. Demands on the existing water and sewer network are growing in eThekwini, and this calls for urgent intervention. In addition, the floods in April 2022 caused further strain on the City’s infrastructure as most water and sanitation infrastructure was severely damaged. This resulted in the interruption of water supply with sewer networks and wastewater treatment also badly affected. We are pleased to report that the strategy is beginning to yield desired outcomes. For instance, there has been a steady decline in non-revenue water which can be attributed mainly to the increase in meter readings as well as an increase in resources for maintenance as plumbing teams are swiftly deployed to repair leaks and burst pipes.

It is known that a key challenge that the Municipality faces is high non-revenue water. In line with the turnaround strategy, the City is finalising nonrevenue water reduction initiatives that include a performance based project for the Phoenix, Inanda, Ntuzuma, and KwaMashu areas. The project will be assisted by the World Bank and Development Bank of Southern Africa and is now at an advanced project preparation stage. Meanwhile, other non-revenue water programmes are at various stages of procurement to cover all water supply systems.

These include water loss professional service contracts and leak detection contracts. This work is also bolstered by the establishment of the NonRevenue Water Section which forms part of the ongoing restructuring of the Water and Sanitation Unit -which is also under way. To ensure water security in the City, the turnaround strategy requires that major medium to long-term water resources projects must be implemented. In this regard, the City commenced with the construction of the Southern Aqueduct Pipeline.

The R1.2 billion project will significantly improve water supply. As part of a permanent solution, the City has since approved and signed the agreement for the Umkomazi Dam Project, paving the way for its implementation with an estimated budget of R28 billion. The Lower Umkhomazi Water Project is under implementation and envisaged to be completed by 2027.