Durban — The eThekwini Municipality has received the go-ahead to purchase its own water tankers at an estimated cost of R110 million.
eThekwini Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda told a full council meeting he anticipated the tankers would be delivered in December.
Kaunda said the municipality currently spent an amount of R6.2m a month to hire 52 water tankers, and purchasing its own fleet would save the City money.
The water tankers will deliver potable water to communities experiencing intermittent water supply or having no access to water within the eThekwini municipal area. The municipality currently has a fleet of 123 water tankers, which is insufficient to meet the increasing demand that was exacerbated by the April floods, which had a major impact on the fixed water network.
The eThekwini Water and Sanitation Unit, in the current financial year, has a budget of R23m. The unit will identify savings from the other operational votes to cover the shortfall.
The mayor said the water tankers were needed in the interim while the City partners with other municipalities to raise R12 billion to contribute to the building of a dam on the uMkhomazi River in KwaZulu-Natal.
Kaunda said the surrounding municipalities – Ugu, eThekwini, uMgungundlovu District Municipality and iLembe – needed to find the remaining money to make sure the project was implemented.
Democratic Liberal Congress leader Patrick Pillay said the tanker acquisitions would increase the City’s operational costs. Pillay said Metro Water was reneging on its service level agreement that it had with citizens in terms of the turnaround times of repairs to water leaks.
He said the purchase of more tankers would not reduce the huge water loss caused by unattended major water leaks.
“What our ratepayers need is quick, effective service delivery in terms of repairs to water leaks and damaged infrastructure,” Pillay said.
African Christian Democratic Party councillor S Gumede said poor governance was having an impact on the water department. “Basic services such as water are long overdue. Our grandmothers, mothers and children are walking long distances for water.”
DA councillor Yogis Govender said the water distribution losses kept rising astronomically.
IFP proportional representative councillor Jonathan Annippen said the disorganised manner in which tankers were distributed during crises, and the political interference that went with it, had thrust the City into disarray.
Daily News