Taps run dry on KZN south coast
Parts of the south coast have been left without water supply with the Ugu Municipality saying some of its workers embarked on an illegal strike yesterday.
Ugu has accused workers of downing tools and shutting off the water supply to certain areas.
Shelley Beach resident Peter Kolbe has told Newswatch the situation is dire.
"Since they have cut off water to most of these areas - you can't use the toilet. If you don't have a JoJo tank or water bottle, you are out of luck. Old people will have to walk to water points they are yet to put up," Kolbe said.
Spokesperson for the municipality, France Zama says there is unhappiness around the implementation of a 'no work no pay' rule for workers involved in last year's unprotected three-week-long strike.
He says most of the municipality's reservoirs are dry today.
"As we were doing the assessment - we discovered that some of our valves have been tampered with last night. We are pleading with our communities to bear with us at this moment," Zama said.
Zama says the municipality is doing its level best to address the issue.
"We are going to be using all our available resources - as from last night - where we have deployed various contractors and ensuring that we transport water to areas where were not able to ensure that they received water," Zama said.
Municipal workers have denied being responsible for the cuts.