Water woes in uMkhanyakude amid COVID-19 pandemic
The uMkhanyakude District Municipality says it's working around the clock to provide its water-stressed communities with water during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The Machibini and Manyiseni communities have been identified as areas that have had unsafe, little or no water for years.
A report by the SA Food Sovereignty Campaign found that both these communities urgently need to be supplied with water tankers.
The district's Mduduzi Dlamini says the population in Machibini is increasing rapidly – making the demand for the precious resource greater.
"We visited Machibini three weeks back - constantly checking if our people do have water and we have been giving them water, and we will continue as they are in our budget to ensure that they get water."
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Dlamini says they've been rolling out water tankers weekly to the troubled Manyiseni town. Most residents have not had access to potable water.
"We don't have the water system [pipe water] running in that area, because we are still covering areas. We will get there. In the meantime, for the short term, we are supplying with water tanks."
