uMhlanga residents threaten legal action over ‘unreliable’ water supply
The uMhlanga Ratepayers’ and Residents’ Association is exploring the possibility of taking legal action against what it says is the unreliable water supply from the city.
Chairperson Terri MacLarty says the association wants eThekwini Municipality to produce evidence of the repairs and maintenance it claims to have been carrying out.
On Tuesday, supply to parts of Durban was shut down while Umgeni-uThukela Water conducted what it said was infrastructure-related work at the Durban Heights Water Treatment Plant.
Prior to the scheduled outage, residents in the north of the city experienced water disruptions for several days.
MacLarty says they've escalated the matter beyond the city's Water Unit - as it could not provide them with satisfactory answers.
"We have to find a way to find him accountable, and we have to find a legal way to do it. Withholding rates is not legal. We don't trust the water in eThekwini any longer, and every time they say it is fixed, we are going to have another problem somewhere in our area. So yes, we are investigating what we can do to hold eThekwini accountable.
ALSO READ: Umngeni-Uthukela Water completes repairs ahead of schedule
"The national government is supposed to be contributing money to have uMhlanga sorted out, so we are really up and arms about it."
eThekwini Municipality says it was not aware the association is considering taking action.
It comes weeks after the Westville Ratepayers Association tried to interdict the city from disconnecting the services of residents who were withholding rate payments as part of a boycott.
They had complained about poor service delivery and tariff increases.
The High Court dismissed their application last month.
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