Water crisis deepens in Malaba Hills as illegal connections threaten basic services

The Isipingo suburb of Malaba Hills welcomed the fitment of a new float valve system on Thursday to a reservoir that could give them a regular supply of water to their taps. 

The residents were at loggerheads with the eThekwini Municipality for three years over water supply challenges. Illegal electricity connections, from the Zwelithini informal settlement to a pump station at the Chotoo Place reservoir, are hampering the supply of water to residents.

Residents have inundated the municipality with calls and emails pleading for help, said community representative Ashita Maharaj.

She hoped that now the water supply will be uninterrupted. 

Maharaj said the problem began when criminals threatened to harm municipal technicians when they arrived to remove illegal connections and switch on the pumps.

Maharaj said that, as a result, technicians preferred to come on site at random times and in the presence of the police. Residents offered to provide security for technicians when the police were not available.

Maharaj explained that the area receives water only when a municipal technician manually opens the valve at the tower. However, there are times, she said, when technicians arrive at midnight, which does not help the community. If technicians do not arrive, residents have to rely on water tankers.

“Other days we wait patiently for water, it's open at any time during the day. Then it's finished in around four hours, and then we wait till late parts of the night for another fill. There are days when we receive only one fill in the day and after four hours or so, residents are without water until the next day,” she said. 

The area is split between two eThekwini wards. Malaba Hills falls under Ward 90, while the informal settlement is under Ward 76. Vacant plots of land between homes on Uttam Road, Uttam Place, and Chotoo Place were land-grabbed in 2019.

Maharaj said they had erratic water supply previously, but the situation escalated in September, adding that their water and rates bill remained the same despite the unfair situation residents were in. 

Maharaj said a water tower in Lotus Park, Isipingo, was fenced off and had security guards on site. Malaba Hills residents wanted the city to adopt a similar approach.  

Isipingo Ratepayers and Residents Association (IRRA) spokesperson Sunildutt Ramadhar said this issue stems from 2021 and urged authorities to intervene. 

eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Gugu Sisilana said that they were aware of the residents' plight, adding that the water and electricity units are exploring other avenues to deal with security issues. 

“The city’s Malaba Hills tower in Isipingo has been vandalised on numerous occasions where telemetry, control valves, and electrical infrastructure are impacted. For the city to pump water to a local reservoir, it requires power, and in the absence of power, water gets depleted in the reservoir, resulting in households being without water,” Sisilana explained.

She said that on numerous occasions, the municipality has disconnected “izinyokanyoka”, also known as illegal electricity connections, in the area.

“Shortly thereafter, residents from nearby informal settlements reconnect to the grid illegally. This results in the system being overloaded, causing subsequent power trips. The city has also reinstated vandalised components and deployed static security, but the situation has not improved. The site is now managed manually due to these challenges,” she said. 

Sisilana said the municipality is appealing to the community to work together to clamp down on this unlawful conduct as it impedes the city from delivering basic services consistently.

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za