THE MUNICIPALITY of Durban blames political influence for the increase in incidents of destruction of infrastructure that leave many people living in the city without water.
The manager of the council, Mr. Musa Mbhele, said that there are people who destroy the infrastructure of the council because they want to slander the existing leadership to the people of Durban.
Mbhele said that incidents of vandalism of the council’s infrastructure increased significantly after the announcement of the date of the local government elections to be held in November.
He said this while talking to the media yesterday.
“It is obvious that there are people who are doing this for political purposes. It is unfortunate what they are doing. They want it to look like the municipality is failing to provide water to the people. If you look carefully, the incidents have increased after the election date was announced. We should ask ourselves why the incidents have increased so much as there are three months left for the election?”
Mbhele said they are working with security agencies including spies to deal with people who destroy the council’s infrastructure.
“What people should know is that it is a red flag to destroy infrastructure and you can be imprisoned for 15 years if you are convicted of destroying infrastructure. There are cases that we have opened.”
Mbhele said the municipality spends a lot of money repairing the damage caused by people who destroy infrastructure.
The Mayor, Mr. Cyril Xaba, said that the destruction of infrastructure has disrupted the water supply in Mashu and Ntuzuma.
“A lot of money was spent during infrastructure repairs. This money could have been used for other projects. We urge people to protect the water infrastructure.”
Xaba also announced that they have completed the infrastructure repair program that left many without water in many areas in Durban last week.
Areas left without water due to planned infrastructure repairs Mlaza, KwaMashu, Inanda, KwaSanti, Clermont and others.
Xaba said they expect the water to return to all the areas that were affected before yesterday.
“We are continuing to fix the water issue. We ask people to be patient as our teams continue to fix the water issue. I am happy to announce that the water supply company, Mngeni-Uthukela Water, has finished repairing the infrastructure. Some started receiving them yesterday (Saturday), others can expect to receive them today (yesterday) afternoon. I urge people to save water. Saving water will make it easier for all people to get it.”