Water infrastructure in Port Edward on the South Coast has collapsed, leaving some residents and businesses without water for two weeks.
The hospitality industry has been hard hit as the crisis impacted negatively on holidaymakers.
Business people who spoke to The Mercury said they survived on their own water tanks, tanks placed in certain areas around the town and also had to ferry water to their businesses to keep them operational.
Ugu District municipality said technicians had been working around the clock and had been able to restore water to some areas. It blamed the problem on the collapse of its water network.
But at midday yesterday, despite the repair efforts, business people and residents were complaining they were again without water. They were posting on the Port Edward Ratepayers Association Facebook page.
Others complained that the water was cutting out while they were showering and water leaks had not been fixed in 15 days.
A B&B operator said she was aware that some people were without water, “but fortunately it did not affect us”.
Theresa Brereton, who runs the Ocean View B&B, described the situation as a disaster. “The water has been on and off and it’s off again this morning; we are not coping.
“We have water tanks. We have to be careful and use
that water sparingly.” She said residents and authorities had put up six more water tanks in the town and tourist areas.
Brereton said the situation was not ideal. “
We now have people going to collect water so they can clean the rooms and wash the floors. The water infrastructure is very old, it must be uprooted and a new one put in, otherwise we will have this problem for all of our days,” she said.
France Zama, the spokesman for Ugu Municipality, said, “Over the past two weeks the municipality has been confronted with a major water pipe break on the Port Edward water network which has culminated in a collapse of our water system in the area.
“Our technicians had worked tirelessly in an effort to repair and resuscitate the water network but it wasn’t to be, as more challenges were experienced during the repair process due to the fragile network,” said Zama.
He said normal water supply had been restored in most areas which were affected and the municipality was working towards ensuring that normal water supply along high lying areas of Short Street and the Edwardian Hotel was restored. He said static water tanks had been made available in these areas.
“Plans are in place from the municipality to configure and modify the Port Edward water network, which is expected to be implemented in the coming year. This will ensure that we live up to our obligation as a water services authority of providing water to our communities,” said Zama.
Peter Brereton of the Port Edward Ratepayers Association said the water problems began on December 15 when workers sabotaged the water infrastructure by turning off the water. When it was turned back on again it was damaged due to the ageing system and poor maintenance.
He said this had devastated tourism in the area. “We are losing millions of rands. In one resort there were 450 kids but no water.”