Video by Sihle Mavuso
Durban - The Department of Water and Sanitation has finally granted the Umkhanyakude District Municipality a licence to draw water from Jozini dam and supply it to its thirsty residents.
However, the residents will have to wait longer as the district municipality has failed to fully use the licence.
This was revealed by Jay Moodley, the assistant manager for infrastructure development and maintenance from the department.
This was during a recent media tour of water projects in the King Cetshwayo and Umkhanyakude districts.
During his presentation at Jozini regional water works, Moodley said the infrastructure on their side had been completed and it had enough capacity to resolve the decades-long water woes of the district.
“The reticulation, however, isn’t an ideal situation right now due to (Umkhanyakude district) municipality having funding constraints,” he said, adding that a fraction of the capacity of the scheme was used.
VIDEO: The Jozini dam in northern KZN, one the biggest in South Africa. The dam was built in 1973 by the apartheid government to exclusively provide water to white commercial farmers. The Umkhanyakude district municipality was recently granted licence to draw the water. @IOL pic.twitter.com/uTpVtAepAE
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) October 21, 2022
Moodley added that to help the municipality, the department was making efforts to ensure the licence was fully used
“It is a challenge which the department is trying to resolve. We are trying to get them to combine our short-term quick-win grants to try to complete the reticulation together with other departments’ grants.”
The Jozini Dam (also known as the Pongolaport Dam) was built in 1973 by the apartheid government. It was solely meant to provide water to commercial farmers.
WATCH: The Jozini regional water works in northern KwaZulu-Natal. According to the Mhlathuze water board, once phase two of this project has been completed, and Shemula water scheme near Tembe elephant park is fully operational, the Mkhanyakude water crisis will be over. @IOL pic.twitter.com/TfvSRGWatO
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) October 21, 2022
Later, the dam provided water to the Makhathini flats farming scheme after the then-Bantustan government of KwaZulu applied to the white government.
Umkhanyakude district municipality mayor, Siphile Mdaka, admitted that while they drew water from the dam, their biggest challenge was delivering to households.
“The issue of reticulation is a work in progress… we are working with Mhlathuze water to get it resolved,” Mdaka said.
According to Mdaka, the district which is made up of Mtubatuba, Jozini, Mhlabuyalinga and Big Five Hlabisa municipalities, is home to about 711 000 people and has about 180 000 households.
UPDATE: It has since emerged that despite having this water facility in Jozini, the Umkhanyakude district municipality is failing to utilize it to solve decades-long its water crisis. The department of water has since tasked the Mhlathuze water board to help the district. @IOL pic.twitter.com/QTsY8fFZUX
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) October 21, 2022
He said 30 000 did not have access to clean water while some 40 percent of households had access to water but it was frequently interrupted.
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