Umkhanyakude to draw water for Jozini Dam
The Umkhanyakude District Municipality says receiving a licence to extract water from Jozini Dam is a milestone for the community.
The Department of Water and Sanitation has given the northern KZN district permission to extract water - a volume of 3.5 cubic meters - directly from the dam for the people of Umkhanyakude.
District mayor Siphile Mdaka says the district has more than 700 000 residents.
"We are a district of 711 000 population, our estimated household currently is about 170 000 and about 30 000 of these households don't have access to clean water so that's your first priority.”
This will bring much-needed relief to the water-stressed district, where households have not had access to clean water for decades.
For more than 40-years, the Jozini Dam was used to ferry water through uMkhanyakude's villages to other areas.
Mdaka says they want to make sure communities have an ample supply of the resource.
"We must make sure that we are able to put necessary infrastructure to these households who don't have access to clean water but 40% of those households currently, we have issues of challenges in terms of water provisions so your short-term plans is to make sure that we the operation and maintenance."
