Concerned residents of Ottawa and Verulam, north of Durban, held a placard protest on the R102 to highlight their concerns about intermittent water supply.
Image: Supplied
An interrupted water supply and a power outage led disgruntled residents to block access roads on the N2 and M19 in Durban.
On Tuesday night, near the N2 Chesterville, motor vehicles were stoned, and the freeway was blocked with rubble and burning tyres following a power outage.
Several motorists caught in the protest reached out to emergency services on WhatsApp groups for help.
Motorists stuck in the traffic on the N2 tried to remove the centre median barrier to get to safety. The eThekwini Municipality said the power outage affected Chesterville and surrounding areas.
The municipality explained that the outage was initially triggered by a medium-voltage cable fault between the Bramcote Distributor Substation and the Mayville High Voltage substation on Monday, March 9.
Municipal teams explored alternative supply from the Kaledon Distributor Substation to restore electricity to residents.
"However, a failure occurred on the feeder cable connecting the Ridgeview Substation to the Kaledon Distributor Substation, which resulted in a loss of supply to Chesterville and surrounding areas," the municipality stated.
The fault affecting the Bramcote Distributor Substation has been repaired, and supply has been restored to some customers. The municipality added that work continues on the remaining affected cable to ensure the full restoration of the electricity supply to all affected residents.
The M19 freeway linking Durban with Reservoir Hills, Clare Estate, Westville, and Pinetown was barricaded with rubble and tryes on Wednesday.
Image: Supplied
RESERVOIR HILLS
In another protest, water supply disruptions since December 2025, led angry residents from the Umgudulu informal settlement in Reservoir Hills to blockade the M19 freeway from 6am to 10am on Wednesday. This led to widespread traffic congestion in several suburbs.
Alicia Kissoon, eThekwini DA Ward 23 councillor, explained that the settlement has been without water since December due to ongoing water pressure failures.
“The humanitarian impact of this neglect cannot be overstated because, in this section of the settlement, a single standpipe is forced to serve over 500 residents. When the water pressure fails, hundreds of people are left without water for drinking, and the communal toilets cease to function,” she added.
Kissoon said this created a health hazard. Since January 2026, the area spanning Umgudulu, Varsity Drive, and surrounding roads has averaged one major pipe burst per week. She said the residents' patience had understandably reached its limit because of the constant outages that affect both the settlement and the surrounding suburbs.
“The community acknowledged the ongoing work I have done to fight for these repairs. We cannot continue to manage this city through crisis response. We need the department to prioritise the repairs already on the books for several years,” Kissoon stated.
Teams from the Durban metro police and the South African Police Service are monitoring the area.
VERULAM
Also frustrated with water issues, residents held a placard protest on the R102 in Ottawa on Wednesday.
Rory Macpherson, eThekwini Ward 102 DA councillor, explained that the Mount Edgecombe, Parkgate, Verulam, and oThongathi were affected by the water outages.
“I visited a family who did not have a water supply for a month. There is no accountability for the water crisis. Watershedding is alive and well. The city officials will not admit it,” he said.
The municipality stated that interventions are under way in certain areas experiencing intermittent supply, and that water demand continues to grow rapidly, now outpacing available supply, largely due to increased urbanisation.
zainul.dawood@inl.co.za